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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The King's Jackal + +Author: Richard Harding Davis + +Release Date: January 22, 2008 [EBook #411] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S JACKAL *** + + + + + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE KING'S JACKAL +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +RICHARD HARDING DAVIS +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +The King's Jackal +</H1> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="25%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CHAPTER I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="25%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHAPTER II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="25%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">CHAPTER III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="25%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHAPTER IV</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<P> +The private terrace of the Hotel Grand Bretagne, at Tangier, was shaded +by a great awning of red and green and yellow, and strewn with colored +mats, and plants in pots, and wicker chairs. It reached out from the +Kings apartments into the Garden of Palms, and was hidden by them on +two sides, and showed from the third the blue waters of the +Mediterranean and the great shadow of Gibraltar in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +The Sultan of Morocco had given orders from Fez that the King of +Messina, in spite of his incognito, should be treated during his stay +in Tangier with the consideration due to his rank, so one-half of the +Hotel Grand Bretagne had been set aside for him and his suite, and two +soldiers of the Bashaw's Guard sat outside of his door with drawn +swords. They were answerable with their heads for the life and safety +of the Sultan's guest, and as they could speak no language but their +own, they made a visit to his Majesty more a matter of adventure than +of etiquette. +</P> + +<P> +Niccolas, the King's majordomo, stepped out upon the terrace and swept +the Mediterranean with a field-glass for the third time since sunrise. +He lowered it, and turned doubtfully toward the two soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"The boat from Gibraltar—has she arrived yet?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The two ebony figures shook their heads stiffly, as though they +resented this introduction of a foreign language, and continued to +shake their heads as the servant addressed the same question to them in +a succession of strange tongues. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Colonel Erhaupt, briskly, as he followed Niccolas out upon +the terrace, "has the boat arrived? And the launch from the yacht," he +continued, "has it started for shore yet?" +</P> + +<P> +The man pointed to where the yacht lay, a mile outside the harbor, and +handed him the glass. +</P> + +<P> +"It is but just now leaving the ship's side," he said. "But I cannot +make out who comes in her. Ah, pardon," he added quickly, as he +pointed to a stout elderly gentleman who walked rapidly toward them +through the garden. "The Gibraltar boat must be in, sir. Here is +Baron Barrat coming up the path." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel Erhaupt gave an exclamation of satisfaction, and waved his hand +to the newcomer in welcome. +</P> + +<P> +"Go tell his Majesty," he said to the servant. +</P> + +<P> +The man hesitated and bowed. "His Majesty still sleeps." +</P> + +<P> +"Wake him," commanded Erhaupt. "Tell him I said to do so. Well, +Baron," he cried, gayly, as he stepped forward, "welcome—or are you +welcome?" he added, with an uneasy laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be. I have succeeded," the other replied gruffly, as he +brushed past him. "Where is the King?" +</P> + +<P> +"He will be here in a moment. I have sent to wake him. And you have +been successful? Good. I congratulate you. How far successful?" +</P> + +<P> +The Baron threw himself into one of the wicker chairs, and clapped his +hands impatiently for a servant. "Twelve thousand pounds in all," he +replied. "That's more than he expected. It was like pulling teeth at +first. I want some coffee at once," he said to the attendant, "and a +bath. That boat reeked with Moors and cattle, and there was no +wagon-lit on the train from Madrid. I sat up all night, and played +cards with that young Cellini. Have Madame Zara and Kalonay returned? +I see the yacht in the harbor. Did she succeed?" +</P> + +<P> +"We do not know; the boat only arrived at daybreak. They are probably +on the launch that is coming in now." +</P> + +<P> +As Barrat sipped his coffee and munched his rolls with the silent +energy of a hungry man, the Colonel turned and strode up and down the +terrace, pulling at his mustache and glancing sideways. When the Baron +had lighted a cigarette and thrown himself back in his chair, Erhaupt +halted and surveyed him in some anxiety. +</P> + +<P> +"You have been gone over two weeks," he said. "I should like to see +you accomplish as much in as short a time," growled the other. "You +know Paris. You know how hard it is to get people to be serious there. +I had the devil's own time at first. You got my cablegram?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; it wasn't encouraging." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I wasn't hopeful myself. They wouldn't believe a word of it at +first. They said Louis hadn't shown such great love for his country or +his people since his exile that they could feel any confidence in him, +and that his conduct in the last six years did not warrant their +joining any undertaking in which he was concerned. You can't blame +them. They've backed him so many times already, and they've been +bitten, and they're shy, naturally. But I swore he was repentant, that +he saw the error of his ways, that he wanted to sit once more before he +died on the throne of his ancestors, and that he felt it was due to his +son that he should make an effort to get him back his birthright. It +was the son won them. `Exhibit A' I call him. None of them would hear +of it until I spoke of the Prince. So when I saw that, I told them he +was a fine little chap, healthy and manly and brave, and devoted to his +priest, and all that rot, and they began to listen. At first they +wanted his Majesty to abdicate, and give the boy a clear road to the +crown, but of course I hushed that up. I told them we were acting +advisedly, that we had reason to know that the common people of Messina +were sick of the Republic, and wanted their King; that Louis loved the +common people like a father; that he would re-establish the Church in +all her power, and that Father Paul was working day and night for us, +and that the Vatican was behind us. Then I dealt out decorations and a +few titles, which Louis has made smell so confoundedly rank to Heaven +that nobody would take them. It was like a game. I played one noble +gentleman against another, and gave this one a portrait of the King one +day, and the other a miniature of `Exhibit A' the next and they grew +jealous, and met together, and talked it over, and finally unlocked +their pockets. They contributed about L9,000 between them. Then the +enthusiasm spread to the women, and they gave me their jewels, and a +lot of youngsters volunteered for the expedition, and six of them came +on with me in the train last night. I won two thousand francs from +that boy Cellini on the way down. They're all staying at the +Continental. I promised them an audience this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Good," commented the Colonel, "good—L9,000. I suppose you took out +your commission in advance?" +</P> + +<P> +"I took out nothing," returned the other, angrily. "I brought it all +with me, and I have a letter from each of them stating just what he or +she subscribed toward the expedition,—the Duke Dantiz, so much; the +Duke D'Orvay, 50,000 francs; the Countess Mattini, a diamond necklace. +It is all quite regular. I played fair." The Colonel had stopped in +his walk, and had been peering eagerly down the leafy path through the +garden. "Is that not Zara coming now?" he asked. "Look, your eyes are +better than mine." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat rose quickly, and the two men walked forward, and bowed with +the easy courtesy of old comrades to a tall, fair girl who came +hurriedly up the steps. The Countess Zara was a young woman, but one +who had stood so long on guard against the world, that the strain had +told, and her eyes were hard and untrustful, so that she looked much +older than she really was. Her life was of two parts. There was +little to be told of the first part; she was an English girl who had +come from a manufacturing town to study art and live alone in Paris, +where she had been too indolent to work, and too brilliant to remain +long without companions eager for her society. Through them and the +stories of her wit and her beauty, she had come to know the King of +Messina, and with that meeting the second part of her life began; for +she had found something so attractive, either in his title or in the +cynical humor of the man himself, that for the last two years she had +followed his fortunes, and Miss Muriel Winter, art student, had become +the Countess Zara, and an uncrowned queen. She was beautiful, with +great masses of yellow hair and wonderful brown eyes. Her manner when +she spoke seemed to show that she despised the world and those in it +almost as thoroughly as she despised herself. +</P> + +<P> +On the morning of her return from Messina, she wore a blue serge +yachting suit with a golf cloak hanging from her shoulders, and as she +crossed the terrace she pulled nervously at her gloves and held out her +hand covered with jewels to each of the two men. +</P> + +<P> +"I bring good news," she said, with an excited laugh. "Where is Louis?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will tell his Majesty that you have come. You are most welcome," +the Baron answered. +</P> + +<P> +But as he turned to the door it opened from the inside and the king +came toward them, shivering and blinking his eyes in the bright +sunlight. It showed the wrinkles and creases around his mouth and the +blue veins under the mottled skin, and the tiny lines at the corners of +his little bloodshot eyes that marked the pace at which he had lived as +truthfully as the rings on a tree-trunk tell of its quiet growth. +</P> + +<P> +He caught up his long dressing-gown across his chest as though it were +a mantle, and with a quick glance to see that there were no other +witnesses to his deshabille, bent and kissed the woman's hand, and +taking it in his own stroked it gently. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Marie," he lisped, "it is like heaven to have you back with us +again. We have felt your absence every hour. Pray be seated, and +pardon my robe. I saw you through the blinds and could not wait. Tell +us the glorious news. The Baron's good words I have already overheard; +I listened to them with great entertainment while I was dressing. I +hoped he would say something discourteous or foolish, but he was quite +discreet until he told Erhaupt that he had kept back none of the money. +Then I lost interest. Fiction is never so entertaining to me as the +truth and real people. But tell us now of your mission and of all you +did; and whether successful or not, be assured you are most welcome." +</P> + +<P> +The Countess Zara smiled at him doubtfully and crossed her hands in her +lap, glancing anxiously over her shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"I must be very brief, for Kalonay and Father Paul are close behind +me," she said. "They only stopped for a moment at the custom-house. +Keep watch, Baron, and tell me when you see them coming." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat moved his chair so that it faced the garden-path, the King +crossed his legs comfortably and wrapped his padded dressing-robe +closer around his slight figure, and Erhaupt stood leaning on the back +of his chair with his eyes fixed on the fine insolent beauty of the +woman before them. +</P> + +<P> +She nodded her head toward the soldiers who sat at the entrance to the +terrace, as silent and immovable as blind beggars before a mosque. "Do +they understand?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No," the King assured her. "They understand nothing, but that they +are to keep people away from me—and they do it very well. I wish I +could import them to Paris to help Niccolas fight off creditors. +Continue, we are most impatient." +</P> + +<P> +"We left here last Sunday night, as you know," she said. "We passed +Algiers the next morning and arrived off the island at mid-day, +anchoring outside in the harbor. We flew the Royal Yacht Squadron's +pennant, and an owner's private signal that we invented on the way +down. They sent me ashore in a boat, and Kalonay and Father Paul +continued on along the southern shore, where they have been making +speeches in all the coast-towns and exciting the people in favor of the +revolution. I heard of them often while I was at the capital, but not +from them. The President sent a company of carbineers to arrest them +the very night they returned and smuggled me on board the yacht again. +We put off as soon as I came over the side and sailed directly here. +</P> + +<P> +"As soon as I landed on Tuesday I went to the Hotel de Messina, and +sent my card to the President. He is that man Palaccio, the +hotel-keeper's son, the man you sent out of the country for writing +pamphlets against the monarchy, and who lived in Sicily during his +exile. He gave me an audience at once, and I told my story. As he +knew who I was, I explained that I had quarrelled with you, and that I +was now prepared to sell him the secrets of an expedition which you +were fitting out with the object of re-establishing yourself on the +throne. He wouldn't believe that there was any such expedition, and +said it was blackmail, and threatened to give me to the police if I did +not leave the island in twenty-four hours—he was exceedingly rude. So +I showed him receipts for ammunition and rifles and Maxim guns, and +copies of the oath of allegiance to the expedition, and papers of the +yacht, in which she was described as an armored cruiser, and he rapidly +grew polite, even humble, and I made him apologize first, and then take +me out to luncheon. That was the first day. The second day telegrams +began to come in from the coast-towns, saying that the Prince Kalonay +and Father Paul were preaching and exciting the people to rebellion, +and travelling from town to town in a man-of-war. Then he was +frightened. The Prince with his popularity in the south was alarming +enough, but the Prince and Father Superior to help him seemed to mean +the end of the Republic. +</P> + +<P> +"I learned while I was down there that the people think the father put +some sort of a ban on every one who had anything to do with driving the +Dominican monks out of the island and with the destruction of the +monasteries. I don't know whether he did or not, but they believe he +did, which is the same thing, and that superstitious little beast, the +President, certainly believed it; he attributed everything that had +gone wrong on the island to that cause. Why, if a second cousin of the +wife of a brother of one of the men who helped to fire a church falls +off his horse and breaks his leg they say that he is under the curse of +the Father Superior, and there are many who believe the Republic will +never succeed until Paul returns and the Church is re-established. The +Government seems to have kept itself well informed about your Majesty's +movements, and it has never felt any anxiety that you would attempt to +return, and it did not fear the Church party because it knew that +without you the priests could do nothing. But when Paul, whom the +common people look upon as a living saint and martyr, returned hand in +hand with your man Friday, they were in a panic and felt sure the end +had come. So the President called a hasty meeting of his Cabinet. And +such a Cabinet! I wish you could have seen them, Louis, with me in the +centre playing on them like an advocate before a jury. They were the +most dreadful men I ever met, bourgeois and stupid and ugly to a +degree. Two of them were commission-merchants, and one of them is old +Dr. Gustavanni, who kept the chemist's shop in the Piazza Royale. They +were quite silly with fear, and they begged me to tell them how they +could avert the fall of the Republic and prevent your landing. And I +said that it was entirely a question of money; that if we were paid +sufficiently the expedition would not land and we would leave them in +peace, but that——" +</P> + +<P> +The King shifted his legs uneasily, and coughed behind his thin, pink +fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"That was rather indiscreet, was it not, Marie?" he murmured. "The +idea was to make them think that I, at least, was sincere; was not that +it? To make it appear that though there were traitors in his camp, the +King was in most desperate earnest? If they believe that, you see, it +will allow me to raise another expedition as soon as the money we get +for this one is gone; but if you have let them know that I am the one +who is selling out, you have killed the goose that lays the golden +eggs. They will never believe us when we cry wolf again——" +</P> + +<P> +"You must let me finish," Zara interrupted. "I did not involve you in +the least. I said that there were traitors in the camp of whom I was +the envoy, and that if they would pay us 300,000 francs we would +promise to allow the expedition only to leave the yacht. Their troops +could then make a show of attacking our landing-party and we would +raise the cry of `treachery' and retreat to the boats. By this we +would accomplish two things,—we would satisfy those who, had +contributed funds toward the expedition that we had at least made an +honest effort, and your Majesty would be discouraged by such treachery +from ever attempting another attack. The money was to be paid two +weeks later in Paris, to me or to whoever brings this ring that I wear. +The plan we finally agreed upon is this: The yacht is to anchor off +Basnai next Thursday night. At high tide, which is just about +daybreak, we are to lower our boats and land our men on that long beach +to the south of the break-water. The troops of the Republic are to lie +hidden in the rocks until our men have formed. Then they are to fire +over their heads, and we are to retreat in great confusion, return to +the yacht, and sail away. Two weeks later they are to pay the money +into my hands, or," she added, with a smile, as she held up her fourth +finger, "to whoever brings this ring. And I need not say that the ring +will not leave my finger." +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment's pause, as though the men were waiting to learn if +she had more to tell, and then the King threw back his head and laughed +softly. He saw Erhaupt's face above his shoulder, filled with the +amazement and indignation of a man who as a duellist and as a soldier +had shown a certain brute courage, and the King laughed again. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of that, Colonel?" he cried, gayly. "They are a +noble race, my late subjects." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" exclaimed the German. "I didn't know we were dealing with a +home for old women." +</P> + +<P> +The Baron laughed comfortably. "It is like taking money from a blind +beggar's hat," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, with two hundred men that I could pick up in London," Erhaupt +declared, contemptuously, "I would guarantee to put you on the throne +in a fortnight." +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed his Majesty. "So they surrendered as +quickly as that, did they?" he asked, nodding toward Madame Zara to +continue. +</P> + +<P> +The Countess glanced again over her shoulder and bit her lips in some +chagrin. Her eyes showed her disappointment. "It may seem an easy +victory to you," she said, consciously, "but I doubt, knowing all the +circumstances, if any of your Majesty's gentlemen could have served you +as well. It needed a woman and——" +</P> + +<P> +"It needed a beautiful woman," interrupted the King, quickly, in a tone +that he would have used to a spoiled child. "It needed a woman of +tact, a woman of courage, a woman among women—the Countess Zara. Do +not imagine, Marie, that we undervalue your part. It is their lack of +courage that distresses Colonel Erhaupt." +</P> + +<P> +"One of them, it is true, did wish to fight," the Countess continued, +with a smile; "a Frenchman named Renauld, whom they have put in charge +of the army. He scoffed at the whole expedition, but they told him +that a foreigner could not understand as they did the danger of the +popularity of the Prince Kolonay, who, by a speech or two among the +shepherds and fishermen, could raise an army." +</P> + +<P> +The King snapped his fingers impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"An army of brigands and smugglers!" he exclaimed. "That for his +popularity!" But he instantly raised his hands as though in protest at +his own warmth of speech and in apology for his outbreak. +</P> + +<P> +"His zeal will ruin us in time. He is deucedly in the way," he +continued, in his usual tone of easy cynicism. "We should have let him +into our plans from the first, and then if he chose to take no part in +them we would at least have had a free hand. As it is now, we have +three different people to deceive: this Cabinet of shopkeepers, which +seems easy enough; Father Paul and his fanatics of the Church party; +and this apostle of the divine right of kings, Kalonay. And he and the +good father are not fools——" +</P> + +<P> +At these words Madame Zara glanced again toward the garden, and this +time with such evident uneasiness in her face that Barrat eyed her with +quick suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" he asked, sharply. "There is something you have not told +us." +</P> + +<P> +The woman looked at the King, and he nodded his head as though in +assent. "I had to tell them who else was in the plot besides myself," +she said, speaking rapidly. "I had to give them the name of some man +who they knew would be able to do what I have promised we could do—who +could put a stop to the revolution. The name I gave was +his—Kalonay's." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat threw himself forward in his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Kalonay's?" he cried, incredulously. +</P> + +<P> +"Kalonay's?" echoed Erhaupt. "What madness, Madame! Why name the only +one who is sincere?" +</P> + +<P> +"She will explain," said the King, in an uneasy voice; "let her +explain. She has acted according to my orders and for the best, but I +confess I——" +</P> + +<P> +"Some one had to be sacrificed," returned the woman, boldly, "and why +not he? Indeed, if we wish to save ourselves, there is every reason +that it should be he. You know how mad he is for the King's return, +how he himself wishes to get back to the island and to his old position +there. Why, God only knows, but it is so. What pleasure he finds in a +land of mists and fogs, in a ruined castle with poachers and smuggling +fishermen for companions, I cannot comprehend. But the fact remains, +he always speaks of it as home and he wishes to return. And now, +suppose he learns the truth, as he may at any moment, and discovers +that the whole expedition for which he is staking his soul and life is +a trick, a farce; that we use it only as a bait to draw money from the +old nobility, and to frighten the Republic into paying us to leave them +in peace? How do we know what he might not do? He may tell the whole +of Europe. He may turn on you and expose you, and then what have we +left? It is your last chance. It is our last chance. We have tried +everything else, and we cannot show ourselves in Europe, at least not +without money in our hands. But by naming Kalonay I have managed it so +that we have only to show the written agreement I have made with the +Republic and he is silenced. In it they have promised to pay the +Prince Kalonay, naming him in full, 300,000 francs if the expedition is +withdrawn. That agreement is in my hands, and that is our answer to +whatever he may think or say. Our word is as good as his, or as bad; +we are all of the same party as far as Europe cares, and it becomes a +falling out among thieves, and we are equal." +</P> + +<P> +Baron Barrat leaned forward and marked each word with a movement of his +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Do I understand you to say," he asked, "that you have a paper signed +by the Republic agreeing to pay 300,000 francs to Kalonay? Then how +are we to get it?" he demanded, incredulously. "From him?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is made payable to him," continued the woman, "or to whoever brings +this ring I wear to the banking-house of the Schlevingens two weeks +after the expedition has left the island. I explained that clause to +them by saying that Kalonay and I were working together against the +King, and as he might be suspicious if we were both to leave him so +soon after the failure of the expedition we would be satisfied if they +gave the money to whichever one first presented the ring. Suppose I +had said," she went on, turning to the King, "that it was either Barrat +or the Colonel here who had turned traitor. They know the Baron of +old, when he was Chamberlain and ran your roulette wheel at the palace. +They know he is not the man to turn back an expedition. And the +Colonel, if he will pardon me, has sold his services so often to one +side or another that it would have been difficult to make them believe +that this time he is sincere. But Kalonay, the man they fear most next +to your Majesty—to have him turn traitor, why, that was a master +stroke. Even those boors, stupid as they are, saw that. When they +made out the agreement they put down all his titles, and laughed as +they wrote them in. `Prince Judas' they called him, and they were in +ecstasies at the idea of the aristocrat suing for blood-money against +his sovereign, of the man they feared showing himself to be only a +common blackmailer. It delighted them to find a prince royal sunk +lower than themselves, this man who has treated them like curs—like +the curs they are," she broke out suddenly—"like the curs they are!" +</P> + +<P> +She rose and laughed uneasily as though at her own vehemence. +</P> + +<P> +"I am tired," she said, avoiding the King's eyes; "the trip has tired +me. If you will excuse me, I will go to my rooms—through your +hall-way, if I may." +</P> + +<P> +"Most certainly," said the King. "I trust you will be rested by +dinner-time. Au revoir, my fair ambassadrice." +</P> + +<P> +The woman nodded and smiled back at him brightly, and Louis continued +to look after her as she disappeared down the corridor. He rubbed the +back of his fingers across his lips, and thoughtfully examined his +finger-nails. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," he said, after a pause, looking up at Barrat. The Baron +raised his eyebrows with a glance of polite interrogation. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if Kalonay dared to make love to her on the way down." +</P> + +<P> +The Baron's face became as expressionless as a death-mask, and he +shrugged his shoulders in protest. +</P> + +<P> +"—Or did she make love to Kalonay?" the King insisted, laughing +gently. "I wonder now. I do not care to know, but I wonder." +</P> + +<P> +According to tradition the Kalonay family was an older one than that of +the House of Artois, and its name had always been the one next in +importance to that of the reigning house. The history of Messina +showed that different members of the Kalonay family had fought and died +for different kings of Artois, and had enjoyed their favor and shared +their reverses with equal dignity, and that they had stood like a +rampart when the kingdom was invaded by the levelling doctrines of +Republicanism and equality. And though the Kalonays were men of +stouter stuff than their cousins of Artois, they had never tried to +usurp their place, but had set an example to the humblest shepherd of +unfailing loyalty and good-will to the King and his lady. The Prince +Kalonay, who had accompanied the Dominican monk to Messina, was the +last of his race, and when Louis IV. had been driven off the island, he +had followed his sovereign into exile as a matter of course, and with +his customary good-humor. His estates, in consequence of this step, +had been taken up by the Republic, and Kalonay had accepted the loss +philosophically as the price one pays for loving a king. He found +exile easy to bear in Paris, and especially so as he had never +relinquished the idea that some day the King would return to his own +again. So firmly did he believe in this, and so keenly was his heart +set upon it, that Louis had never dared to let him know that for +himself exile in Paris and the Riviera was vastly to be preferred to +authority over a rocky island hung with fogs, and inhabited by dull +merchants and fierce banditti. +</P> + +<P> +The conduct of the King during their residence in Paris would have +tried the loyalty of one less gay and careless than Kalonay, for he was +a sorry monarch, and if the principle that "the King can do no wrong" +had not been bred in the young Prince's mind, he would have deserted +his sovereign in the early days of their exile. But as it was, he made +excuses for him to others and to himself, and served the King's idle +purposes so well that he gained for himself the name of the King's +jackal, and there were some who regarded him as little better than the +King's confidential blackguard, and man Friday, the weakest if the most +charming of his court of adventurers. +</P> + +<P> +At the first hint which the King gave of his desire to place himself +again in power, Kalonay had ceased to be his Jackal and would have +issued forth as a commander-in-chief, had the King permitted him; but +it was not to Louis's purpose that the Prince should know the real +object of the expedition, so he assigned its preparation to Erhaupt, +and despatched Kalonay to the south of the island. At the same time +Madame Zara had been sent to the north of the island, ostensibly to +sound the sentiment of the old nobility, but in reality to make capital +out of the presence there of Kalonay and Father Paul. +</P> + +<P> +The King rose hurriedly when the slim figure of the Prince and the +broad shoulders and tonsured head of the monk appeared at the farthest +end of the garden-walk. +</P> + +<P> +"They are coming!" he cried, with a guilty chuckle; "so I shall run +away and finish dressing. I leave you to receive the first shock of +Kalonay's enthusiasm alone. I confess he bores me. Remember, the +story Madame Zara told them in the yacht is the one she told us this +morning, that none of the old royalists at the capital would promise us +any assistance. Be careful now, and play your parts prettily. We are +all terribly in earnest." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay's enthusiasm had not spent itself entirely before the King +returned. He had still a number of amusing stories to tell, and he +reviewed the adventures of the monk and himself with such vivacity and +humor that the King nodded his head in delight, and even the priest +smiled indulgently at the recollection. +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay had seated himself on one of the tables, with his feet on a +chair and with a cigarette burning between his fingers. He was a +handsome, dark young man of thirty, with the impulsive manner of a boy. +Dissipation had left no trace on his face, and his eyes were as +innocent of evil and as beautiful as a girl's, and as eloquent as his +tongue. "May the Maria Santissima pity the girls they look upon," his +old Spanish nurse used to say of them. But Kalonay had shown pity for +every one save himself. His training at an English public school, and +later as a soldier in the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris, had saved him +from a too early fall, and men liked him instinctively, and the women +much too well. +</P> + +<P> +"It was good to be back there again," he cried, with a happy sigh. "It +was good to see the clouds following each other across the old +mountains and throwing black shadows on the campagna, and to hear the +people's patois and to taste Messinian wine again and to know it was +from your own hillside. All our old keepers came down to the coast to +meet us, and told me about the stag-hunt the week before, and who was +married, and who was in jail, and who had been hanged for shooting a +customs officer, and they promised fine deer stalking if I get back +before the snow leaves the ridges, for they say the deer have not been +hunted and are running wild." He stopped and laughed. "I forgot," he +said, "your Majesty does not care for the rude pleasures of my half of +the island." Kalonay threw away his cigarette, clasping his hands +before him with a sudden change of manner. +</P> + +<P> +"But seriously," he cried, "as I have been telling them—I wish your +Majesty could have heard the offers they made us, and could have seen +the tears running down their faces when we assured them that you would +return. I wished a thousand times that we had brought you with us. +With you at our head we can sweep the island from one end to the other. +We will gather strength and force as we go, as a landslide grows, and +when we reach the capital we will strike it like a human avalanche. +</P> + +<P> +"And I wish you could have heard him speak," Kalonay cried, his +enthusiasm rising as he turned and pointed with his hand at the priest. +"There is the leader! He made my blood turn hot with his speeches, and +when he had finished I used to find myself standing on my tiptoes and +shouting with the rest. Without him I could have done nothing. They +knew me too well; but the laziest rascals in the village came to +welcome him again, and the women and men wept before him and brought +their children to be blessed, and fell on their knees and kissed his +sandals. It was like the stories they tell you when you are a child. +He made us sob with regret and he filled us with fresh resolves. Oh, +it is very well for you to smile, you old cynics," he cried, smiling at +his own fervor, "but I tell you, I have lived since I saw you last!" +</P> + +<P> +The priest stood silent with his hands hidden inside his great sleeves, +and his head rising erect and rigid from his cowl. The eyes of the men +were turned upon him curiously, and he glanced from one to the other, +as though mistrusting their sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"It was not me—it was the Church they came to welcome. The fools," he +cried bitterly, "they thought they could destroy the faith of the +people by banishing the servants of the Church. As soon end a mother's +love for her children by putting an ocean between them. For six years +those peasants have been true. I left them faithful, I returned to +find them faithful. And now—" he concluded, looking steadily at the +King as though to hold him to account, "and now they are to have their +reward." +</P> + +<P> +The King bowed his head gravely in assent. "They are to have their +reward," he repeated. He rose and with a wave of his hand invited the +priest to follow him, and they walked together to the other end of the +terrace. When they were out of hearing of the others the King seated +himself, and the priest halted beside his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to speak with you, father," Louis said, "concerning this young +American girl, Miss Carson, who has promised to help us—to help +you—with her money. Has she said yet how much she means to give us," +asked the King, "and when she means to let us have it? It is a +delicate matter, and I do not wish to urge the lady, but we are really +greatly in need of money. Baron Barrat, who arrived from Paris this +morning, brings back no substantial aid, although the sympathy of the +old nobility, he assures me, is with us. Sympathy, however, does not +purchase Maxim guns, nor pay for rations, and Madame Zara's visit to +the capital was, as you know, even less successful." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty has seen Miss Carson, then?" the priest asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, her mother and she have been staying at the Continental ever +since they followed you here from Paris, and I have seen her once or +twice during your absence. The young lady seems an earnest daughter of +our faith, and she is deeply in sympathy with our effort to +re-establish your order and the influence of the Church upon the +island. I have explained to her that the only way in which the Church +can regain her footing there is through my return to the throne, and +Miss Carson has hinted that she is willing to make even a larger +contribution than the one she first mentioned. If she means to do +this, it would be well if she did it at once." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I have misunderstood her," said the priest, after a moment's +consideration; "but I thought the sum she meant to contribute was to be +given only after the monarchy has been formally established, and that +she wished whatever she gave to be used exclusively in rebuilding the +churches and the monastery. I do not grudge it to your Majesty's +purpose, but so I understood her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that is quite possible," returned Louis, easily; "it may be that +she did so intend at first, but since I have talked with her she has +shown a willing disposition to aid us not only later, but now. My +success means your success," he continued, smiling pleasantly as he +rose to his feet, "so I trust you will urge her to be prompt. She +seems to have unlimited resources in her own right. Do you happen to +know from whence her money comes?" +</P> + +<P> +"Her mother told me," said the priest, "that Mr. Carson before his +death owned mines and railroads. They live in California, near the +Mission of Saint Francis. I have written concerning them to the Father +Superior there, and he tells me that Mr. Carson died a very rich man, +and that he was a generous servant of the Church. His daughter has but +just inherited her father's fortune, and her one idea of using it is to +give it to the Church, as he would have done." +</P> + +<P> +The priest paused and seemed to consider what the King had just told +him. "I will speak with her," he said, "and ask her aid as fully as +she can give it. May I inquire how far your Majesty has taken her into +our plans?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Carson is fully informed," the King replied briefly. "And if you +wish to speak with her you can see her now; she and her mother are +coming to breakfast with me to hear the account of your visit to the +island. You can speak with her then—and, father," the King added, +lowering his eyes and fingering the loose sleeve of the priest's robe, +"it would be well, I think, to have this presentation of the young +nobles immediately after the luncheon, while Miss Carson is still +present. We might even make a little ceremony of it, and so show her +that she is fully in our confidence—that she is one of our most valued +supporters. It might perhaps quicken her interest in the cause." +</P> + +<P> +"I see no reason why that should not be," said the priest, +thoughtfully, turning his eyes to the sea below them. "Madame Zara," +he added, without moving his eyes, "will not be present." +</P> + +<P> +The King straightened himself slightly, and for a brief moment of time +looked at the priest in silence, but the monk continued to gaze +steadily at the blue waters. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame Zara will not be present," the King repeated, coldly. +</P> + +<P> +"There are a few fishermen and mountaineers, your Majesty," the priest +continued, turning an unconscious countenance to the King, "who came +back with us from the island. They come as a deputation to inform your +Majesty of the welcome that waits you, and I have promised them an +audience. If you will pardon me I would suggest that you receive these +honest people at the same time with the others, and that his Highness +the Crown Prince be also present, and that he receive them with you. +Their anxiety to see him is only second to their desire to speak to +your Majesty. You will find some of your most loyal subjects among +these men. Their forefathers have been faithful to your house and to +the Church for many generations." +</P> + +<P> +"Excellent," said the King; "I shall receive them immediately after the +deputation from Paris. Consult with Baron Barrat and Kalonay, please, +about the details. I wish either Kalonay or yourself to make the +presentation. I see Miss Carson and her mother coming. After +luncheon, then, at, say, three o'clock—will that be satisfactory?" +</P> + +<P> +"As your Majesty pleases," the priest answered, and with a bow he +strode across the terrace to where Kalonay stood watching them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<P> +Mrs. Carson and her daughter came from the hotel to the terrace through +the hallway which divided the King's apartments. Baron Barrat preceded +them and they followed in single file, Miss Carson walking first. It +was a position her mother always forced upon her, and after people grew +to know them they accepted it as illustrating Mrs. Carson's confidence +in her daughter's ability to care for herself, as well as her own wish +to remain in the background. +</P> + +<P> +Patricia Carson, as she was named after her patron saint, or "Patty" +Carson, as she was called more frequently, was an exceedingly pretty +girl. She was tall and fair, with a smile that showed such confidence +in everyone she met that few could find the courage to undeceive her by +being themselves, and it was easier, in the face of such an appeal as +her eyes made to the best in every one, for each to act a part while he +was with her. She was young, impressionable, and absolutely +inexperienced. As a little girl she had lived on a great ranch, where +she could gallop from sunrise to sunset over her own prairie land, and +later her life had been spent in a convent outside of Paris. She had +but two great emotions, her love for her father and for the Church +which had nursed her. Her father's death had sanctified him and given +him a place in her heart that her mother could not hold, and when she +found herself at twenty-one the mistress of a great fortune, her one +idea as to the disposal of it was to do with it what would best please +him and the Church which had been the ruling power in the life of both +of them. She was quite unconscious of her beauty, and her mode of +speaking was simple and eager. +</P> + +<P> +She halted as she came near the King, and resting her two hands on the +top of her lace parasol, nodded pleasantly to him and to the others. +She neither courtesied nor offered him her hand, but seemed to prefer +this middle course, leaving them to decide whether she acted as she did +from ignorance or from choice. +</P> + +<P> +As the King stepped forward to greet her mother, Miss Carson passed him +and moved on to where the Father Superior stood apart from the others, +talking earnestly with the Prince. What he was saying was of an +unwelcome nature, for Kalonay's face wore an expression of boredom and +polite protest which changed instantly to one of delight when he saw +Miss Carson. The girl hesitated and made a deep obeisance to the +priest. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid I interrupt you," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," Kalonay assured her, laughing. "It is a most welcome +interruption. The good father has been finding fault with me, as +usual, and I am quite willing to change the subject." +</P> + +<P> +The priest smiled kindly on the girl, and while he exchanged some words +of welcome with her, Kalonay brought up one of the huge wicker chairs, +and she seated herself with her back to the others, facing the two men, +who stood leaning against the broad balustrade. They had been +fellow-conspirators sufficiently long for them to have grown to know +each other well, and the priest, so far from regarding her as an +intruder, hailed her at once as a probable ally, and endeavored to +begin again where he had ceased speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you not agree with me, Miss Carson?" he asked. "I am telling the +Prince that zeal is not enough, and that high ideals, unless they are +accompanied by good conduct, are futile. I want him to change, to be +more sober, more strict——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you must not ask me," Miss Carson said, hurriedly, smiling and +shaking her head. "We are working for only one thing, are we not? +Beyond that you know nothing of me, and I know nothing of you. I came +to hear of your visit," she continued; "am I to be told anything?" she +asked, eagerly, looking from one to the other. "It has been such an +anxious two weeks. We imagined all manner of things had happened to +you." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay laughed happily. "The Father was probably never safer in his +life," he said. "They took us to their hearts like brothers. They +might have suffocated us with kindness, but we were in no other danger." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are encouraged, Father?" she asked, turning to the priest. +"You found them loyal? Your visit was all you hoped, you can depend +upon them?" +</P> + +<P> +"We can count upon them absolutely," the monk assured her. "We shall +start on our return voyage at once, in a day, as soon as his Majesty +gives the word." +</P> + +<P> +"There are so many things I want to know," the girl said; "but I have +no right to ask," she added, looking up at him doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"You have every right," the monk answered. "You have certainly earned +it. Without the help you gave us we could not have moved. You have +been more than generous——" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Carson interrupted him with an impatient lifting of her head. +"That sort of generosity is nothing," she said. "With you men it is +different. You are all risking something. You are actually helping, +while I must sit still and wait. I hope, Father," she said, smiling, +"it is not wrong for me to wish I were a man." +</P> + +<P> +"Wrong!" exclaimed Kalonay, in a tone of mock dismay; "of course it's +wrong. It's wicked." +</P> + +<P> +The monk turned and looked coldly over his shoulder at Kalonay, and the +Prince laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon," he said, "but we are told to be contented with our +lot," he argued, impenitently. "`He only is a slave who complains,' +and that is true even if a heretic did say it." +</P> + +<P> +The monk shook his head and turned again to Miss Carson with a tolerant +smile. +</P> + +<P> +"He is very young," he said, as though Kalonay did not hear him, "and +wild and foolish—and yet," he added, doubtfully, "I find I love the +boy." He regarded the young man with a kind but impersonal scrutiny, +as though he were a picture or a statue. "Sometimes I imagine he is +all I might have been," he said, "had not God given me the strength to +overcome myself. He has never denied himself in anything; he is as +wilful and capricious as a girl. He makes a noble friend, Miss Carson, +and a generous enemy; but he is spoiled irretrievably by good fortune +and good living and good health." The priest looked at the young man +with a certain sad severity. "`Unstable as water, thou shalt not +excel,'" he said. +</P> + +<P> +The girl, in great embarrassment, turned her head away, glancing from +the ocean to the sky; but Kalonay seated himself coolly on the broad +balustrade of the terrace with his hands on his hips, and his heels +resting on the marble tiling, and clicked the soles of his boots +together. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I have had my bad days, too, Father," he said. He turned his head +on one side, and pressed his lips together, looking down. +</P> + +<P> +"Unstable as water—that is quite possible," he said, with an air of +consideration; "but spoiled by good fortune—oh, no, that is not fair. +Do you call it good fortune, sir," he laughed, "to be an exile at +twenty-eight? Is it good fortune to be too poor to pay your debts, and +too lazy to work; to be the last of a great name, and to have no chance +to add to the glory of it, and no means to keep its dignity fresh and +secure? Do you fancy I like to see myself drifting farther and farther +away from the old standards and the old traditions; to have English +brewers and German Jew bankers taking the place I should have, buying +titles with their earnings and snubbing me because I can only hunt when +someone gives me a mount, and because I choose to take a purse instead +of a cup when we shoot at Monte Carlo?" +</P> + +<P> +"What child's talk is this?" interrupted the priest, angrily. "A +thousand horses cannot make a man noble, nor was poverty ever ignoble. +You talk like a weak boy. Every word you say is your own condemnation. +Why should you complain? Your bed is of your own making. The other +prodigal was forced to herd with the swine—you have chosen to herd +with them." +</P> + +<P> +The girl straightened herself and half rose from her chair. +</P> + +<P> +"You are boring Miss Carson with my delinquencies," said the Prince, +sternly. His face was flushed, and he did not look either at the girl +or at the priest. +</P> + +<P> +"But the prodigal's father?" said Miss Carson, smiling at the older +man. "Did he stand over him and upbraid him? You remember, he went to +meet him when he was yet a great way off. That was it, was it not, +Father?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course he did," cried Kalonay, laughing like a boy, and slipping +lightly to the terrace. "He met him half way and gave him the best he +had." He stepped to Miss Carson's side and the two young people moved +away smiling, and the priest, seeing that they were about to escape +him, cried eagerly, "But that prodigal had repented. This one——" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's run," cried the Prince. "He will get the best of us if we stay. +He always gets the best of me. He has been abusing me that way for two +weeks now, and he is always sorry afterward. Let us leave him alone to +his sorrow and remorse." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay walked across the terrace with Miss Carson, bending above her +with what would have seemed to an outsider almost a proprietary right. +She did not appear to notice it, but looked at him frankly and listened +to what he had to say with interest. He was speaking rapidly, and as +he spoke he glanced shyly at her as though seeking her approbation, and +not boldly, as he was accustomed to do when he talked with either men +or women. To look at her with admiration was such a cheap form of +appreciation, and one so distasteful to her, that had he known it, +Kalonay's averted eyes were more of a compliment than any words he +could have spoken. His companions who had seen him with other women +knew that his manner to her was not his usual manner, and that he gave +her something he did not give to the others; that he was more discreet +and less ready, and less at ease. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince Kalonay had first met Miss Carson and her mother by chance +in Paris, at the rooms of Father Paul, where they had each gone on the +same errand, and since that meeting his whole manner toward the two +worlds in which he lived had altered so strangely that mere +acquaintances noticed the change. +</P> + +<P> +Before he had met her, the little the priest had said concerning her +and her zeal for their common desire had piqued his curiosity, and his +imagination had been aroused by the picture of a romantic young woman +giving her fortune to save the souls of the people of Messina; his +people whom he regarded and who regarded him less as a feudal lord than +as a father and a comrade. He had pictured her as a nervous, angular +woman with a pale, ascetic face, and with the restless eyes of an +enthusiast, dressed in black and badly dressed, and with a severe and +narrow intelligence. But he had prepared himself to forgive her +personality, for the sake of the high and generous impulse that +inspired her. And when he was presented to her as she really was, and +found her young, lovable, and nobly fair, the shock of wonder and +delight had held him silent during the whole course of her interview +with the priest, and when she had left them his brain was in a tumult +and was filled with memories of her words and gestures, and of the +sweet fearlessness of her manner. Beautiful women he had known before +as beautiful women, but the saving grace in his nature had never before +been so deeply roused by what was fine as well as beautiful. It seemed +as though it were too complete and perfect. For he assured himself +that she possessed everything—those qualities which he had never +valued before because he believed them to be unattainable, and those +others which he had made his idols. She was with him, mind and heart +and soul, in the one desire of his life that he took seriously; she was +of his religion, she was more noble than his noble sisters, and she was +more beautiful than the day. In the first glow of the meeting it +seemed to him as though fate had called them to do this work +together,—she from the far shore of the Pacific, and he from his rocky +island in the Middle Sea. And he saw with cruel distinctness, that if +there were one thing wanting, it was himself. He worshipped her before +he had bowed his first good-by to her, and that night he walked for +miles up and down the long lengths of the avenue of the Champs-Elysees, +facing the great change that she had brought into his life, but knowing +himself to be utterly unfit for her coming. He felt like an unworthy +steward caught at his master's return unprepared, with ungirt loins, +and unlighted lamp. Nothing he had done since he was a child gave him +the right to consider himself her equal. He was not blinded by the +approaches which other daughters and the mothers of daughters had made +him. He knew that what was enough to excuse many things in their eyes +might find no apology in hers. He looked back with the awakening of a +child at the irrevocable acts in his life that could not be altered nor +dug up nor hidden away. They marked the road he had trodden like heavy +milestones, telling his story to every passer-by. She could read them, +as everyone else could read them. He had wasted his substance, he had +bartered his birthright for a moment's pleasure; there was no one so +low and despicable who could not call him comrade, to whom he had not +given himself without reserve. There was nothing left, and now the one +thing he had ever wanted had come, and had found him like a bankrupt, +his credit wasted and his coffers empty. He had placed himself at the +beck and call of every idle man and woman in Paris, and he was as +common as the great clock-face that hangs above the boulevards. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Carson's feelings toward Kalonay were not of her own choosing, and +had passed through several stages. When they had first met she had +thought it most sad that so careless and unprincipled a person should +chance to hold so important a part in the task she had set herself to +do. She knew his class only by hearsay, but she placed him in it, and, +accordingly, at once dismissed him as a person from her mind. Kalonay +had never shown her that he loved her, except by those signs which any +woman can read and which no man can conceal; but he did not make love +to her, and it was that which first prepossessed her in his favor. One +or two other men who knew of her fortune, and to whom she had given as +little encouragement as she had to Kalonay, had been less considerate. +But his attitude toward her was always that of a fellow-worker in the +common cause. He treated her with a gratitude for the help she meant +to give his people which much embarrassed her. His seriousness pleased +her with him, seeing, as she did, that it was not his nature to be +serious, and his enthusiasm and love for his half-civilized countrymen +increased her interest in them, and her liking for him. She could not +help but admire the way in which he accepted, without forcing her to +make it any plainer, the fact that he held no place in her thoughts. +And then she found that he began to hold more of a place in her +thoughts than she had supposed any man could hold of whom she knew so +little, and of whom the little she knew was so ill. She missed him +when she went to the priest's and found that he had not sent for +Kalonay to bear his part in their councils; and at times she felt an +unworthy wish to hear Kalonay speak the very words she had admired him +for keeping from her. And at last she learned the truth that she did +love him, and it frightened her, and made her miserable and happy. +They had not seen each other since he had left Paris for Messina, and +though they spoke now only of his mission to the island, there was back +of what they said the joy for each of them of being together again and +of finding that it meant so much. What it might mean to the other, +neither knew. +</P> + +<P> +For some little time the King followed the two young people with his +eyes, and then joined them, making signs to Kalonay that he wished him +to leave them together; but Kalonay remained blind to his signals, and +Barrat, seeing that it was not a tete-a-tete, joined them also. When +he did so Kalonay asked the King for a word, and laying his hand upon +his arm walked with him down the terrace, pointing ostensibly to where +the yacht lay in the harbor. Louis answered his pantomime with an +appropriate gesture, and then asked, sharply, "Well, what is it? Why +did you bring me here? And what do you mean by staying on when you see +you are not wanted?" +</P> + +<P> +They were some distance from the others. Kalonay smiled and made a +slight bow. "Your Majesty," he began, with polite emphasis. The King +looked at him curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"In the old days under similar circumstances," the Prince continued, +with the air of a courtier rather than that of an equal, "had I thought +of forming an alliance by marriage, I should have come to your Majesty +first and asked your gracious approval. But those days are past, and +we are living at the end of the century; and we do such things +differently." He straightened himself and returned the King's look of +amused interest with one as cynical as his own. "What I wanted to tell +you, Louis," he said, quietly, "is that I mean to ask Miss Carson to +become the Princess Kalonay." +</P> + +<P> +The King raised his head quickly and stared at the younger man with a +look of distaste and surprise. He gave an incredulous laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" he said at last. "There was always something about rich +women you could never resist." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince made his acknowledgment with a shrug of his shoulders and +smiled indifferently. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't expect you to understand," he said. "It does seem odd; it's +quite as difficult for me to understand as for you. I have been +through it a great many times, and I thought I knew all there was of +it. But now it seems different. No, it does not seem different," he +corrected himself; "it is different, and I love the lady and I mean to +ask her to do me the honor to marry me. I didn't expect you to +understand, I don't care if you do. I only wanted to warn you." +</P> + +<P> +"Warn me?" interrupted the King, with an unpleasant smile. "Indeed! +against what? Your tone is a trifle peremptory—but you are +interesting, most interesting! Kalonay in a new role, Kalonay in love! +Most interesting! Warn me against what?" he repeated sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty has a certain manner," the Prince began, with a pretence +of hesitation, "a charm of manner, I might say, which is proverbial. +It is, we know, attractive to women. Every woman acknowledges it. But +your Majesty is sometimes too gracious. He permits himself to +condescend to many women, to any woman, to women of all classes——" +</P> + +<P> +"That will do," said the King; "what do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"What I mean is this," said Kalonay, lowering his voice and looking +into the King's half-closed eyes. "You can have all of Miss Carson's +money you want—all you can get. I don't want it. If I am to—marry +her at all, I am not marrying her for her money. You can't believe +that. It isn't essential that you should. But I want you to leave the +woman I hope to make my wife alone. I will allow no pretty speeches, +nor royal attentions. She can give her money where she pleases, now +and always; but I'll not have her eyes opened to—as you can open them. +I will not have her annoyed. And if she is——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, and if she is?" challenged the King. His eyes were wide apart now +and his lips were parted and drawn back from his teeth, like a snarling +cat—— +</P> + +<P> +"I shall hold whoever annoys her responsible," Kalonay concluded, +impersonally. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment's pause, during which the two men stood regarding +each other warily. +</P> + +<P> +Then the King stiffened his shoulders and placed his hands slowly +behind his back. "That sounds, my dear Kalonay," he said, "almost like +a threat." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man laughed insolently. "I meant it, too, your Majesty," +he answered, bowing mockingly and backing away. +</P> + +<P> +As the King's guests seated themselves at his breakfast-table Louis +smiled upon them with a gracious glance of welcome and approval. His +manner was charmingly condescending, and in his appearance there was +nothing more serious than an anxiety for their better entertainment and +a certain animal satisfaction in the food upon his plate. +</P> + +<P> +In reality his eyes were distributing the people at the table before +him into elements favorable or unfavorable to his plans, and in his +mind he shuffled them and their values for him or against him as a +gambler arranges and rearranges the cards in his hand. He saw himself +plainly as his own highest card, and Barrat and Erhaupt as willing but +mediocre accomplices. In Father Paul and Kalonay he recognized his +most powerful allies or most dangerous foes. Miss Carson meant nothing +to him but a source from which he could draw the sinews of war. What +would become of her after the farce was ended, he did not consider. He +was not capable of comprehending either her or her motives, and had he +concerned himself about her at all, he would have probably thought that +she was more of a fool than the saint she pretended to be, and that she +had come to their assistance more because she wished to be near a +Prince and a King than because she cared for the souls of sixty +thousand peasants. That she would surely lose her money, and could +hardly hope to escape from them without losing her good name, did not +concern him. It was not his duty to look after the reputation of any +American heiress who thought she could afford to be unconventional. +She had a mother to do that for her, and she was pretty enough, he +concluded, to excuse many things,—so pretty that he wondered if he +might brave the Countess Zara and offer Miss Carson the attentions to +which Kalonay had made such arrogant objections. The King smiled at +the thought, and let his little eyes fall for a moment on the tall +figure of the girl with its crown of heavy golden hair, and on her +clever, earnest eyes. She was certainly worth waiting for, and in the +meanwhile she was virtually unprotected and surrounded by his own +people. According to his translation of her acts, she had already +offered him every encouragement, and had placed herself in a position +which to his understanding of the world could have but one +interpretation. What Kalonay's sudden infatuation might mean he could +not foresee; whether it promised good or threatened evil, he could only +guess, but he decided that the young man's unwonted show of +independence of the morning must be punished. His claim to exclusive +proprietorship in the young girl struck the King as amusing, but +impertinent. It would be easy sailing in spite of all, he decided; for +somewhere up above them in the hotel sat the unbidden guest, the woman +against whom Father Paul had raised the ban of expulsion, but who had, +nevertheless, tricked both him and the faithful Jackal. +</P> + +<P> +The breakfast was drawing to an end and the faithful Niccolas was the +only servant remaining in the room. The talk had grown intimate and +touched openly upon the successful visit of the two ambassadors to the +island, and of Barrat's mission to Paris. Of Madame Zara's visit to +the northern half of the island, which was supposed to have been less +successful, no mention was made. +</P> + +<P> +Louis felt as he listened to them like a man at a play, who knows that +at a word from him the complications would cease, and that were he to +rise in the stalls and explain them away, and point out the real hero +and denounce the villain, the curtain would have to ring down on the +instant. He gave a little purr of satisfaction, and again marshalled +his chances before him and smiled to find them good. He was grandly at +peace with himself and with the world. Whatever happened, he was +already richer by some 300,000 francs, and in a day, if he could keep +the American girl to her expedition had been played he would be +free,—free to return to his clubs and to his boulevards and boudoirs, +with money enough to silence the most insolent among his creditors, and +with renewed credit; with even a certain glamour about him of one who +had dared to do, even though he had failed in the doing, who had shaken +off the slothfulness of ease and had chosen to risk his life for his +throne with a smoking rifle in his hand, until a traitor had turned +fortune against him. +</P> + +<P> +The King was amused to find that this prospect pleased him vastly. He +was surprised to discover that, careless as he thought himself to be to +public opinion, he was still capable of caring for its approbation; but +he consoled himself for this weakness by arguing that it was only +because the approbation would be his by a trick that it pleased him to +think of. Perhaps some of his royal cousins, in the light of his bold +intent, might take him under their protection instead of neglecting him +shamefully, as they had done in the past. His armed expedition might +open certain doors to him; his name—and he smiled grimly as he +imagined it—would ring throughout Europe as the Soldier King, as the +modern disciple of the divine right of kings. He saw, in his mind's +eye, even the possibility of a royal alliance and a pension from one of +the great Powers. No matter where he looked he could see nothing but +gain to himself, more power for pleasure, more chances of greater +fortune in the future, and while his lips assented to what the others +said, and his eyes thanked them for some expression of loyalty or +confidence, he saw himself in dreams as bright as an absinthe +drinker's, back in his beloved Paris: in the Champs-Elysees behind fine +horses, lolling from a silk box at the opera, dealing baccarat at the +jockey Club, or playing host to some beautiful woman of the hour, in +the new home he would establish for her in the discreet and leafy +borders of the Bois. +</P> + +<P> +He had forgotten his guests and the moment. He had forgotten that +there were difficulties yet to overcome, and with a short, indrawn sigh +of pleasure, he threw back his head and smiled arrogantly upon the +sunny terrace and the green palms and the brilliant blue sea, as though +he challenged the whole beautiful world before him to do aught but +minister to his success and contribute to his pleasures. +</P> + +<P> +And at once, as though in answer to his challenge, a tall, slim young +man sprang lightly up the steps of the terrace, passed the bewildered +guards with a cheery nod, and, striding before the open windows, +knocked with his fist upon the portals of the door, as sharply and as +confidently as though the King's shield had hung there, and he had +struck it with a lance. +</P> + +<P> +The King's dream shattered and faded away at the sound, and he moved +uneasily in his chair. He had the gambler's superstitious regard for +trifles, and this invasion of his privacy by a confident stranger +filled him with sudden disquiet. +</P> + +<P> +He saw Kalonay staring at the open windows with an expression of +astonishment and dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" the King asked, peevishly. "What are you staring at? How +did he get in?" +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay turned on Barrat, sitting at his right. "Did you see him?" he +asked. Barrat nodded gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +"The devil!" exclaimed the Prince, as though Barrat had confirmed his +guess. "I beg your pardon," he said, nodding his head toward the +women. He pushed back his chair and stood irresolutely with his napkin +in his hand. "Tell him we are not in, Niccolas," he commanded. +</P> + +<P> +"He saw us as he passed the window," the Baron objected. +</P> + +<P> +"Say we are at breakfast then. I will see him myself in a moment. +What shall I tell him?" he asked, turning to Barrat. "Do you think he +knows? He must know, they have told him in Paris." +</P> + +<P> +"You are keeping us waiting," said the King. "What is it? Who is this +man?" +</P> + +<P> +"An American named Gordon. He is a correspondent," Kalonay answered, +without turning his head. His eyes were still fixed on the terrace as +though he had seen a ghost. +</P> + +<P> +The King slapped his hand on the arm of the chair. "You promised me," +he said, "that we should be free from that sort of thing. That is why +I agreed to come here instead of going to Algiers. Go out, Barrat, and +send him away." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat pressed his lips together and shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't send him away like that," he said. "He is a very important +young man." +</P> + +<P> +"Find out how much he will take, then," exclaimed the King, angrily, +"and give it to him. I can better afford to pay blackmail to any +amount than have my plans spoiled now by the newspapers. Give him what +he wants—a fur coat—they always wear fur coats—or five thousand +francs, or something—anything—but get rid of him." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat stirred uneasily in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. "He +is not a boulevard journalist," he replied, sulkily. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty is thinking of the Hungarian Jews at Vienna," explained +Kalonay, "who live on chantage and the Monte Carlo propaganda fund. +This man is not in their class; he is not to be bought. I said he was +an American." +</P> + +<P> +"An American!" exclaimed Mrs. Carson and her daughter, exchanging rapid +glances. "Is it Archie Gordon you mean?" the girl asked. "I thought +he was in China." +</P> + +<P> +"That is the man—Archie Gordon. He writes books and explores places," +Kalonay answered. +</P> + +<P> +"I know him. He wrote a book on the slave trade in the Congo," +contributed Colonel Erhaupt. "I met him at Zanzibar. What does he +want with us?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was in Yokohama when the Japanese-Chinese war broke out," said +Kalonay, turning to the King, "and he cabled a London paper he would +follow the war for it if they paid him a hundred a week. He meant +American dollars, but they thought he meant pounds, so they cabled back +that they'd pay one-half that sum. He answered, `One hundred or +nothing,' and they finally assented to that, and he started; and when +the first week's remittance arrived, and he received five hundred +dollars instead of the one hundred he expected, he sent back the +difference." +</P> + +<P> +"What a remarkable young man!" exclaimed the King. "He is much too +good for daily wear. We don't want anyone like that around here, do +we?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know Mr. Gordon very well," said Miss Carson. "He lived in San +Francisco before he came East. He was always at our house, and was a +great friend of the family; wasn't he, mother? We haven't seen him for +two years now, but I know he wouldn't spoil our plans for the sake of +his paper, if he knew we were in earnest, if he understood that +everything depended upon its being kept a secret." +</P> + +<P> +"We are not certain that he knows anything," the King urged. "He may +not have come here to see us. I think Father Paul should talk with him +first." +</P> + +<P> +"I was going to suggest," said Miss Carson, with some hesitation, "that +if I spoke to him I might be able to put it to him in such a way that +he would see how necessary it——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed the King, eagerly, and rising to his feet; +"if you only would be so kind, Miss Carson." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay, misunderstanding the situation altogether, fastened his eyes +upon the table and did not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"He has not come to see you, Patricia," said Mrs. Carson, quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"He does not know that I am here," Miss Carson answered; "but I'm sure +if he did he would be very glad to see us again. And if we do see him +we can make him promise not to do anything that might interfere with +our plans. Won't you let me speak to him, mother?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carson turned uncertainly to the priest for direction, and his +glance apparently reassured her, for she rose, though still with a +troubled countenance, and the two women left the room together, the men +standing regarding each other anxiously across the table. When they +had gone the King lit a cigarette and, turning his back on his +companions, puffed at it nervously in silence. Kalonay sat moodily +studying the pattern on the plate before him, and the others whispered +together at the farther end of the table. +</P> + +<P> +When Miss Carson and her mother stepped out upon the terrace, the +American was standing with his back toward them and was speaking to the +guards who sat cross-legged at the top of the steps. They showed no +sign of surprise at the fact of his addressing them in their own tongue +further than that they answered him with a show of respect which they +had not exhibited toward those they protected. The American turned as +he heard the footsteps behind him, and, after a startled look of +astonishment, hurried toward the two women, exclaiming, with every +expression of pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"I had no idea you were stopping here," he said, after the first +greetings were over. "I thought you were somewhere on the Continent. +I am so glad I caught you. It seems centuries since I saw you last. +You're looking very well, Mrs. Carson—and as for Patty—I am almost +afraid of her—I've been hearing all sorts of things about you lately, +Patty," he went on, turning a smiling countenance toward the girl. +"About your engagements to princes and dukes—all sorts of disturbing +rumors. What a terrible swell you've grown to be. I hardly recognize +you at all, Mrs. Carson. It isn't possible this is the same young girl +I used to take buggy riding on Sunday evenings?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, it is not. I wish it were," said Mrs. Carson, plaintively, +sinking into a chair. "I'm glad to see you're not changed, Archie," +she added, with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he's very much changed, mother," the girl said. "He's taller, +and, in comparison with what he was, he's almost wasted away, and so +sunburned I hardly knew him. Except round the forehead," she added, +mockingly, "and I suppose the sun couldn't burn there because of the +laurel-wreaths. I hear they bring them to you fresh every morning." +</P> + +<P> +"They're better than coronets, at any rate," Gordon answered, with a +nod. "They're not so common. And if I'm wasted away, can you wonder? +How long has it been since I saw you, Patty?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'm wrong, he's not changed," Miss Carson said dryly, as she +seated herself beside her mother. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you two come to be stopping here?" the young man asked. "I +thought this hotel had been turned over to King Louis?" +</P> + +<P> +"It has," Mrs. Carson answered. "We are staying at the Continental, on +the hill there. We are only here for breakfast. He asked us to +breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +"He?" repeated Gordon, with an incredulous smile. "Who? Not the +King—not that blackguard?" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Carson raised her head, and stared at him in silence, and her +mother gave a little gasp, apparently of relief and satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Miss Carson answered at last, coldly. "We are breakfasting with +him. What do you know against him?" +</P> + +<P> +Gordon stared at her with such genuine astonishment that the girl +lowered her eyes, and, bending forward in her chair, twirled her +parasol nervously between her fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"What do I know against him? Why, Patty!" he exclaimed. "How did you +meet him, in Heaven's name?" he asked, roughly. "Have you been seen +with him? Have you known him long? Who had the impudence to present +him?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carson looked up, now thoroughly alarmed. Her lower lip was +trembling, and she twisted her gloved hands together in her lap. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know against him?" Miss Carson repeated, meeting Gordon's +look with one as full of surprise as his own. +</P> + +<P> +The young man regarded her steadily for a few moments, and then, with a +change of manner, as though he now saw the situation was much more +serious than he had at first supposed, drew up a chair in front of the +two women and seated himself deliberately. +</P> + +<P> +"Has he borrowed any money from you yet?" he asked. Miss Carson's face +flushed crimson and she straightened her shoulders and turned her eyes +away from Gordon with every sign of indignation and disapproval. The +young man gave an exclamation of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"No? That's good. You cannot have known him so very long. I am +greatly relieved." +</P> + +<P> +"Louis of Messina," he began more gently, "is the most unscrupulous +rascal in Europe. Since they turned him out of his kingdom he has +lived by selling his title to men who are promoting new brands of +champagne or floating queer mining shares. The greater part of his +income is dependent on the generosity of the old nobility of Messina, +and when they don't pay him readily enough, he levies blackmail on +them. He owes money to every tailor and horse-dealer and hotel-keeper +in Europe, and no one who can tell one card from another will play with +him. That is his reputation. And to help him live up to it he has +surrounded himself with a parcel of adventurers as rascally as himself: +a Colonel Erhaupt who was dropped from a German regiment, and who is a +Colonel only by the favor of the Queen of Madagascar; a retired +croupier named Barrat; and a fallen angel called Kalonay, a fellow of +the very best blood in Europe and with the very worst morals. They +call him the King's jackal, and he is one of the most delightful +blackguards I ever met. So is the King for that matter, a most +entertaining individual if you keep him in his place, but a man no +woman can know. In fact, Mrs. Carson," Gordon went on, addressing +himself to the mother, "when you have to say that a woman has +absolutely no reputation whatever you can best express it by explaining +that she has a title from Louis of Messina. That is his Majesty's way +of treating his feminine friends when they bore him and he wants to get +rid of them. He gives them a title. +</P> + +<P> +"The only thing the man ever did that was to his credit and that could +be discussed in polite society is what he is doing now at this place, +at this moment. For it seems," Gordon whispered, drawing his chair +closer, "that he is about to show himself something of a man after all, +and that he is engaged in fitting out an armed expedition with which he +hopes to recover his kingdom. That's what brought me here, and I must +say I rather admire him for attempting such a thing. Of course, it was +Kalonay who put him up to it; he would never have stirred from the +boulevards if that young man had not made him. But he is here, +nevertheless, waiting for a favorable opportunity to sail, and he has +ten thousand rifles and three Maxim guns lying in his yacht out there +in the harbor. That's how I came to learn about it. I was getting an +estimate on an outfit I was thinking of taking into Yucatan from my old +gunsmith in the Rue Scribe, and he dropped a hint that he had shipped +ten thousand rifles to Tangier, to Colonel Erhaupt. I have met Erhaupt +in Zanzibar, and knew he was the King's right-hand man, so I put two +and two together and decided I would follow them up, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and now," interrupted Miss Carson, sharply—"and now that you +have followed them up, what do you mean to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Gordon looked his surprise at her earnestness, but answered that he did +not know what he would do; he thought he would either ask them to give +him a commission in their expedition, and let him help them fight, and +write an account of their adventures later, or he would telegraph the +story at once to his paper. It was with him, he said, entirely a +question as to which course would be of the greater news value. If he +told what he now knew, his paper would be the first of all others to, +inform the world of the expedition and the proposed revolution; while +if he volunteered for the expedition and waited until it had failed or +succeeded, he would be able to tell more eventually, but would have to +share it with other correspondents. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Carson regarded him with an expression in which indignation and +entreaty were curiously blended. +</P> + +<P> +"Archie," she said, in a low voice, "you do not know what you are doing +or saying. You are threatening to spoil the one thing in my life on +which I have set my heart. The return of this man to his throne, +whether he is worthy or not, means the restoration of the Catholic +Church on that island; it means the return of the monks and the +rebuilding of the monasteries, and the salvation of sixty thousand +souls. I know all that they mean to do. I am the one who paid for +those rifles that brought you here; you have told me only what I have +known for months, and for which I have been earnestly working and +praying. I am not blinded by these men. They are not the creatures +you describe; but no matter what they may be, it is only through them, +and through them alone, that I can do what I have set out to do." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon silenced her with a sweep of his hand. "Do you mean to tell +me," he demanded, "that you are mixed up in this—with these—that they +have taken money from you, and told you they meant to use it to +re-establish the Church? Mrs. Carson," he exclaimed, bitterly, turning +upon her, "why have you allowed this—what have you been doing while +this was going on? Do you suppose those scoundrels care for the +Church—the Church, indeed! Wait until I see them—any of +them—Erhaupt by choice, and I'll make them give up every franc you've +lent them, or I'll horsewhip and expose them for the gang of welshers +and thimble-riggers they are; or if they prefer their own methods, I'll +call them out in rotation and shoot their arms and legs off." He +stopped and drew a long breath, either of content that he had +discovered the situation in time to take some part in it, or at the +prospect of a fight. +</P> + +<P> +"The idea of you two helpless females wandering into this den of +wolves!" he exclaimed, indignantly. "It's about time you had a man to +look after you! You go back to your hotel now, and let me have a chat +with Louis of Messina. He's kept me waiting some twenty minutes as it +is, and that's a little longer than I can give him. I'm not a +creditor." He rose from his chair; but Miss Carson put out her hand +and motioned him to be seated. +</P> + +<P> +"Archie," she said, "I like the way you take this, even though you are +all wrong about it, because it's just like you to fly into a passion +and want to fight someone for somebody. If your conclusions were +anywhere near the truth, you would be acting very well. But they are +not. The King is not handling my money, nor the Prince Kalonay. It is +in the keeping of Father Paul, the Father Superior of the Dominican +monks, who is the only one of these people I know or who knows me. He +is not a swindler, too, is he, or a retired croupier? Listen to me +now, and do not fly out like that at me, or at mother. It is not her +fault. Last summer mother and I went to Messina as tourists, and one +day, when passing through a seaport town, we saw a crowd of people on +the shore, standing or kneeling by the hundreds in a great semicircle +close to the water's edge. There was a priest preaching to them from +an open boat. It was like a scene from the New Testament, and the man, +this Father Paul, made me think of one of the disciples. I asked them +why he did not preach on the land, and they told me that he and all of +the priests had been banished from the island six years before, and +that they could only return by stealth and dared not land except by +night. When the priest had finished speaking, I had myself rowed out +to his boat, and I talked a long time with him, and he told me of this +plan to re-establish himself and his order. I offered to help him with +my money, and he promised me a letter to Cardinal Napoli. It reached +me on my return to Rome, and through the influence of the Cardinal I +was given an audience with the Pope, and I was encouraged to aid Father +Paul as far as I could. I had meant to build a memorial church for +father, but they urged me to give the money instead to this cause. All +my dealings until to-day have been with Father Paul alone. I have seen +a little of the Prince Kalonay because they are always together; but he +has always treated me in a way to which no one could take exception, +and he is certainly very much in earnest. When Father Paul left Paris +mother and I came on here in order to be near him, and that is how you +find me at Tangier. And now that you understand how much this means to +me, I know you will not do anything to stand in our way. Those men +inside are afraid that you came here for just the reason that +apparently has brought you, and when they saw you a little while ago +through the windows they were greatly disturbed. Let me tell them that +you mean to volunteer for the campaign. The King cannot refuse the +services of a man who has done the things you are always doing. And I +promise you that for a reward you shall be the only one to tell the +story of our attempt. I promise you," she repeated earnestly, "that +the day we enter the capital, you can cable whatever you please and +tell our story to the whole of Europe." +</P> + +<P> +"The story be hanged!" replied Gordon. "You have made this a much more +serious business than a newspaper story. You misunderstand me utterly, +Patty. I am here now because I am not going to have you compromised +and robbed." +</P> + +<P> +The girl stood up and looked down at the young man indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"You have no right whatever to use that tone to me," she said. "I am +of age and my own adviser. I am acting for the good of a great number +of people, and according to what my conscience and common sense tell me +is right. I shall hate you if you attempt to interfere. You can do +one of two things, Archie. I give you your choice: you can either go +with them as a volunteer, and promise to keep our secret; or you can +cable what you know now, what you know only by accident, but if you do, +you will lose your best friend, and you will defeat a good and a noble +effort." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon leaned back in his chair, and looked up at her steadily for a +brief moment, and then rose with a smile, and bowed to the two women in +silence. He crossed the terrace quickly with an amused and puzzled +countenance, and walked into the breakfast-room, from the windows of +which, as he rightly guessed, the five conspirators had for some time +observed him. He looked from one to the other of the men about the +table, until his eyes finally met those of the King. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe, sir, you are leading an expedition against the Republic of +Messina?" Gordon said. "I am afraid it can't start unless you take me +with you." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<P> +The presence in Tangier of the King of Messina and his suite, and the +arrival there of the French noblemen who had volunteered for the +expedition, could not escape the observation of the resident +Consuls-General and of the foreign colony, and dinners, riding and +hunting parties, pig-sticking, and excursions on horseback into the +outlying country were planned for their honor and daily entertainment. +Had the conspirators held aloof from these, the residents might have +asked, since it was not to enjoy themselves, what was the purpose of +their stay in Tangier; and so, to allay suspicion as to their real +object, different members of the expedition had been assigned from time +to time to represent the visitors at these festivities. On the morning +following the return of the yacht from Messina, an invitation to ride +to a farmhouse some miles out of Tangier and to breakfast there had +been sent to the visitors, and the King had directed the Prince +Kalonay, and half of the delegation from Paris, to accept it in his +name. +</P> + +<P> +They were well content to go, and rode forth gayly and in high spirits, +for the word had been brought them early in the morning that the +expedition was already prepared to move, and that same evening at +midnight the yacht would set sail for Messina. They were careless as +to what fortune waited for them there. The promise of much excitement, +of fighting and of danger, of possible honor and success, stirred the +hearts of the young men gloriously, and as they galloped across the +plains, or raced each other from point to point, or halted to jump +their ponies across the many gaping crevices which the sun had split in +the surface of the plain, they filled the still, warm air with their +shouts and laughter. In the party there were many ladies, and the +groups changed and formed again as they rode forward, spread out on +either side of the caravan-trail and covering the plain like a skirmish +line of cavalry. But Kalonay kept close at Miss Carson's stirrup, +whether she walked her pony or sent him flying across the hard, +sunbaked soil. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you won't do that again," he said, earnestly, as she drew up +panting, with her sailor hat and hair falling to her shoulders. They +had been galloping recklessly over the open crevices in the soil. +</P> + +<P> +"It's quite the nastiest country I ever saw," he said. "It looks as +though an earthquake had shaken it open and had forgotten to close it +again. Believe me, it is most unsafe and dangerous. Your pony might +stumble—" He stopped, as though the possibilities were too serious for +words, but the girl laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no more dangerous than riding across our prairie at dusk when you +can't see the barbed wire. You are the last person in the world to +find fault because a thing is dangerous," she added. +</P> + +<P> +They had reached the farm, where they went to breakfast, and the young +Englishman who was their host was receiving his guests in his garden, +and the servants were passing among them, carrying cool drinks and +powdered sweets and Turkish coffee. Kalonay gave their ponies to a +servant and pointed with his whip to an arbor that stood at one end of +the garden. +</P> + +<P> +"May we sit down there a moment until they call us?" he said. "I have +news of much importance—and I may not have another chance," he begged, +looking at her wistfully. The girl stood motionless; her eyes were +serious, and she measured the distance down the walk to the arbor as +though she saw it beset with dangers more actual than precipices and +twisted wire. The Prince watched her as though his fate was being +weighed in his presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," she said at last, and moved on before him down the +garden-path. +</P> + +<P> +The arbor was open to the air with a low, broad roof of palm-leaves +that overhung it on all sides and left it in deep shadow. Around it +were many strange plants and flowers, some native to Morocco and some +transplanted from their English home. From where they sat they could +see the other guests moving in and out among the groves of orange and +olive trees and swaying palms, and standing, outlined against the blue +sky, upon the low, flat roof of the farm-house. +</P> + +<P> +"I have dared to ask you to be so good as to give me this moment," the +Prince said humbly, "only because I am going away, and it may be my +last chance to speak with you. You do not mind? You do not think I +presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I do not mind," said the girl, smiling. "In my country we do not +think it a terrible offence to talk to a girl at a garden-party. But +you said there was something of importance you wanted to say to me. +You mean the expedition?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Kalonay. "We start this evening." The girl raised her +head slightly and stared past him at the burning white walls and the +burning blue sky that lay outside the circle of shadow in which they +sat. +</P> + +<P> +"This evening—" she repeated to herself. +</P> + +<P> +"We reach there in two days," Kalonay continued; "and then we—then we +go on—until we enter the capital." +</P> + +<P> +The girl's head was bent, and she looked at her hands as they lay in +her lap and frowned at them, they seemed so white and pretty and +useless. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you go on," she repeated, "and we stay here. You are a man and +able to go on. I know what that means. And you like it," she added, +with a glance of mingled admiration and fear. "You are glad to fight +and to risk death and to lead men on to kill other men." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay drew lines in the sand with his ridingwhip, and did not raise +his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is because you are fighting for your home," the girl +continued, "and to set your country free, and that you can live with +your own people again, and because it is a holy war. That must be it. +Now that it is really come, I see it all differently. I see things I +had not thought about before. They frighten me," she said. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince raised his head and faced the girl, clasping the end of his +whip nervously in his hand. "If we should win the island for the +King," he said, "I believe it will make a great change in me. I shall +be able to go freely then to my home, as you say, to live there always, +to give up the life I have led on the Continent. It has been a foolish +life—a dog's life—and I have no one to blame for it but myself. I +made it worse than it need to have been. But if we win, I have +promised myself that I will not return to it; and if we fall I shall +not return to it, for the reason that I shall have been killed. I +shall have much power if we win. When I say much power, I mean much +power in Messina, in that little corner of the world, and I wish to use +it worthily and well. I am afraid I should not have thought of it," he +went on, naively, as though he were trying to be quite fair, "had not +Father Paul pointed out to me what I should do, how I could raise the +people and stop the abuses which made them drive us from the island. +The people must be taxed less heavily, and the money must be spent for +them and not for us, on roads and harbors and schools, not at the +Palace on banquets and fetes. These are Father Paul's ideas, not +mine,—but now I make them mine." He rose and paced the length of the +little arbor, his hands clasped behind him and his eyes bent on the +ground. "Yes, that is what I mean to do," he said. "That is the way I +mean to live. And if we fail, I mean to be among those who are to die +on the fortifications of the capital, so that with me the Kalonay +family will end, and end fighting for the King, as many of my people +have done before me. There is no other way. For me there shall be no +more idleness nor exile. I must either live on to help my people, or I +must die with them." He stopped in his walk and regarded the girl +closely. "You may be thinking, it is easy for him to promise this, it +is easy to speak of what one will do. I know that. I know that I can +point back at nothing I have done that gives me any right to ask you to +believe me now. But I do ask it, for if you believe me—believe what I +say—it makes it easier for me to tell you why after this I must live +worthily. But you know why? You must know; it is not possible that +you do not know." +</P> + +<P> +He sat down beside her on the bench, leaning forward and crushing his +hands together on his knee. "It is because I love you. Because I love +you so that everything which is not worthy is hateful to me, myself +most of all. It is the only thing that counts. I used to think I knew +what love meant; I used to think love was a selfish thing that needed +love in return, that it must be fed on love to live, that it needed +vows and tender speeches and caresses, or it would die. I know now +that when one truly cares, he does not ask whether the other cares or +not. It is what one gives that counts, not what one receives. You +have given me nothing—nothing—not a word nor a look; yet since I have +known you I have been more madly happy in just knowing that you live +than I would have been had any other woman in all the world thrown +herself into my arms and said she loved me above all other men. I am +not fit to tell you this. But to-night I go to try myself, either +never to see you again, or to come back perhaps more worthy to love +you. Think of this when I am gone. Do not speak to me now. I may +have made you hate me for speaking so, or I may have made you pity me; +so let me go not knowing, just loving you, worshipping you, and holding +you apart and above all other people. I go to fight for you, do you +understand? Not for our Church, not for my people, but for you, to +live or die for you. And I ask nothing from you but that you will let +me love you always." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince bent, and catching up Miss Carson's riding-gloves that lay +beside her on the bench, kissed them again and again, and then, rising +quickly, walked out of the arbor into the white sunshine, and, without +turning, mounted his pony and galloped across the burning desert in the +direction of Tangier. +</P> + +<P> +Archie Gordon had not been invited to join the excursion into the +country, nor would he have accepted it, for he wished to be by himself +that he might review the situation and consider what lay before him. +He sat with his long legs dangling over the broad rampart which +overlooks the harbor of Tangier. He was whistling meditatively to +himself and beating an accompaniment to the tune with his heels. At +intervals he ceased whistling while he placed a cigar between his teeth +and pulled upon it thoughtfully, resuming his tune again at the point +where it had been interrupted. Below him the waves ran up lazily on +the level beach and sank again, dragging the long sea-weed with them, +as they swept against the sharp rocks, and exposed them for an instant, +naked and glistening in the sun. On either side of him the town +stretched to meet the low, white, sand-hills in a crescent of low, +white houses pierced by green minarets and royal palms. A warm sun had +sent the world to sleep at mid-day, and an enforced peace hung over the +glaring white town and the sparkling blue sea. Gordon blinked at the +glare, but his eyes showed no signs of drowsiness. They were, on the +contrary, awake to all that passed on the high road behind him, and on +the sandy beach at his feet, while at the same time his mind was busily +occupied in reviewing what had occurred the day before, and in +adjusting new conditions. At the hotel he had found that the situation +was becoming too complicated, and that it was impossible to feel sure +of the truth of anything, or of the sincerity of anyone. Since the +luncheon hour the day before he had become a fellow-conspirator with +men who were as objectionable to him in every way as he knew he was +obnoxious to them. But they had been forced to accept him because, so +they supposed, he had them at the mercy of his own pleasure. He knew +their secret, and in the legitimate pursuit of his profession he could, +if he chose, inform the island of Messina, with the rest of the world, +of their intention toward it, and bring their expedition to an end, +though he had chosen, as a reward for his silence, to become one of +themselves. Only the Countess Zara had guessed the truth, that it was +Gordon himself who was at their mercy, and that so long as the American +girl persisted in casting her fortunes with them her old young friend +was only too eager to make any arrangement with them that would keep +him at her side. +</P> + +<P> +It was a perplexing position, and Gordon turned it over and over in his +mind. Had it not been that Miss Carson had a part in it he would have +enjoyed the adventure, as an adventure, keenly. He had no objections +to fighting on the side of rascals, or against rascals. He objected to +them only in the calmer moments of private life; and as he was of +course ignorant that the expedition was only a make-believe, he felt a +certain respect for his fellow-conspirators as men who were willing to +stake their lives for a chance of better fortune. But that their +bravery was of the kind which would make them hesitate to rob and +deceive a helpless girl he very much doubted; for he knew that even the +bravest of warriors on their way to battle will requisition a herd of +cattle or stop to loot a temple. The day before, Gordon had witnessed +the brief ceremony which attended the presentation of the young +noblemen from Paris who had volunteered for the expedition in all good +faith, and he reviewed it and analyzed it as he sat smoking on the +ramparts. +</P> + +<P> +It had been an impressive ceremony, in spite of the fact that so few +had taken part in it, but the earnestness of the visitors and the +enthusiasm of Kalonay and the priest had made up for the lack of +numbers. The scene had appealed to him as one of the most dramatic he +had witnessed in the pursuit of a calling in which looking on at real +dramas was the most frequent duty, and he had enjoyed the strange +mixture of ancient terms of address and titles with the modern manners +of the men themselves. It had interested him to watch Baron Barrat +bring out the ancient crown and jewelled sceptre which had been the +regalia of all the Kings of Messina since the Crusades and spread them +out upon a wicker tea-table, from which Niccolas had just removed some +empty coffee-cups, half filled with the ends of cigarettes, some +yellow-backed novels, and a copy of the Paris Figaro. It was also +interesting to him to note how the sight of the little heir-apparent +affected both the peasants from the mountains and the young nobles from +the Club Royale. The former fell upon their knees with the tears +rolling down the furrows in their tanned cheeks, while the little +wise-eyed boy stood clinging to his nurse's skirts with one hand and to +his father's finger with the other, and nodded his head at them gravely +like a toy mandarin. +</P> + +<P> +Then the King had addressed them in a dignified, earnest, and almost +eloquent speech, and had promised much and prophesied the best of +fortunes, and then, at the last, had turned suddenly toward Miss +Carson, where she stood in the background between her mother and Father +Paul. +</P> + +<P> +"Every cause has its Joan of Arc, or its Maria Theresa," he cried, +looking steadfastly at Miss Carson. "No cause has succeeded without +some good woman to aid it. To help us, my friends, we have a daughter +of the people, as was Joan of Arc, and a queen, as was Maria Theresa, +for she comes from that country where every woman is a queen in her own +right, and where the love of liberty is inherent." The King took a +quick step backward, and taking Miss Carson's hand drew her forward +beside him and placed her facing his audience, while the girl made vain +efforts to withdraw her hand. "This is she," he said earnestly, "the +true daughter of the Church who has made it possible for us to return +to our own again. It is due to her that the King of Messina shall sit +once more on his throne; it is through her generosity alone that the +churches will rise from their ruins and that you will once again hear +the Angelus ring across the fields at sunset. Remember her, my friends +and cousins, pray for her as a saint upon earth, and fight gloriously +to help her to success!" +</P> + +<P> +Gordon had restrained himself with difficulty while this scene was +being enacted; he could not bear the thought of the King touching the +girl's hand. He struggled to prevent himself from crying out at the +false position into which he had dragged her; and yet there was +something so admirably sincere in the King's words, something so +courteous and manly, that it robbed his words of all the theatrical +effect they held, and his tribute to the girl filled even Gordon with +an emotion which on the part of the young nobles found expression in +cheer upon cheer. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon recalled these cheers and the looks of wondering admiration +which had been turned upon Miss Carson, and he grew so hot at the +recollection that he struck the wall beside him savagely with his +clinched fist, and damned the obstinacy of his young and beautiful +friend with a sincerity and vigor that was the highest expression of +his interest in her behalf. +</P> + +<P> +He threw his cigar into the rampart at his feet and dropped back into +the high road. It was deserted at the time, except for the presence of +a tall, slightly built stranger, who advanced toward him from the city +gates. The man was dressed in garments of European fashion and carried +himself like a soldier, and Gordon put him down at a glance as one of +the volunteers from Paris. The stranger was walking leisurely, +stopping to gaze at the feluccas in the bay, and then turning to look +up at the fortress on the hill. He seemed to have no purpose in his +walk except the interest of a tourist, and as he drew up even with +Gordon he raised his helmet politely and, greeting him in English, +asked if he were on the right road to the Bashaw's Palace. Gordon +pointed to where the white walls of the palace rose above the other +white walls about it. +</P> + +<P> +"That is it," he said. "All the roads lead to it. You keep going up +hill." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said the stranger. "I see I have taken a long way." He +put his white umbrella in the sand, and, removing his helmet, mopped +his forehead with his handkerchief. "It is a curious old town, +Tangier," he said, affably, "but too many hills, is it not so? Algiers +I like better. There is more life." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Algiers is almost as good as the boulevards," Gordon assented, +"if you like the boulevards. I prefer this place because it is +unspoiled. But, as you say, there is not much to do here." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger's eyes fell upon the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which stood a +quarter of a mile away from them on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the Hotel Bretagne, is it not?" he asked. Gordon answered him +with a nod. +</P> + +<P> +"The King Louis of Messina, so the chasseur at the hotel tells me, is +stopping there en suite," the stranger added, with an interrogative air +of one who volunteers an interesting fact, and who asks if it is true +at the same moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say, I'm sure," Gordon replied. "I only arrived here +yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger bowed his head in recognition of this piece of personal +information, and, putting on his helmet, picked up his umbrella as +though to continue his stroll. As he did so his eyes wandered over the +harbor and were arrested with apparent interest by the yacht, which lay +a conspicuous object on the blue water. He pointed at it with his +umbrella. +</P> + +<P> +"One of your English men-of-war is in the harbor, I see. She is very +pretty, but not large; not so large as many," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon turned his head obligingly and gazed at the yacht with polite +interest. "Is that a man-of-war? I thought it was a yacht," he said. +"I'm not familiar with the English war-vessels. I am an American." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, indeed!" commented the affable stranger. "I am French myself, but +I think she is a man-of-war. I saw her guns when I passed on the +steamer from Gibraltar." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon knew that the steamer did not pass within half a mile of where +the yacht lay at anchor, but he considered it might be possible to see +her decks with the aid of a glass. +</P> + +<P> +"You may be right," he answered, indifferently. As he turned his eyes +from the boat he saw a woman, dressed in white, and carrying a parasol, +leave the gardens of the Hotel Bretagne, and come toward them along the +beach. The Frenchman, following the direction of his eyes, saw her +also, and regarded her instantly with such evident concern that Gordon, +who had recognized her even at that distance as the Countess Zara, felt +assured that his inquisitor held, as he had already suspected, more +than a tourist's interest in Tangier. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I will wish you a good-morning," said the Frenchman, hurriedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," Gordon replied, and taking a cigar from his case, he +seated himself again upon the rampart. As he walked away the stranger +glanced back over his shoulder, but Gordon was apparently absorbed in +watching the waves below him, and had lost all interest in his chance +acquaintance. But he watched both the woman and the Frenchman as they +advanced slowly from opposite directions and drew nearer together, and +he was not altogether surprised, when the in man was within twenty feet +of her, to see her start and stand still, and then, with the indecision +of a hunted animal, move uncertainly, and then turn and run in the +direction of the hotel. Something the man apparently called after her +caused her to stop, and Gordon observed them now with undisguised +interest as they stood conversing together, oblivious of the +conspicuous mark they made on the broad white beach under the brilliant +sun. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what he's up to now?" Gordon mused. "He was trying to pump +me, that's evident, and he certainly recognized the lady, and she +apparently did not want to recognize him. I wonder if he is a rejected +lover, or another conspirator. This is a most amusing place, nothing +but plots and counterplots and—Hello!" he exclaimed aloud. The man +had moved quickly past Madame Zara, and had started toward the hotel, +and Zara had held out her hand to him, as though to entreat him to +remain. But he did not stop, and she had taken a few uncertain steps +after him, and had then, much to the American's dismay, fallen limply +on her back on the soft sand. She was not a hundred yards distant from +where he sat, and in an instant he had slipped from the wall, and +dropped on his hands and knees on the beach below. When Gordon reached +her the Frenchman had returned, and was supporting her head on his knee +and covering her head with her parasol. +</P> + +<P> +"The lady has fainted!" he exclaimed, eagerly. His manner was no +longer one of idle indolence. He was wide awake now and visibly +excited. +</P> + +<P> +"The sun has been too much for her," he said. "It is most dangerous +walking about at this time of day." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon ran down the beach and scooped up some water in his helmet, and +dipping his handkerchief in it bathed her temples and cheek. He had +time to note that she was a very beautiful girl, and the pallor of her +face gave it a touch of gentleness that he had not seen there before. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go to the hotel and bring assistance, said the stranger, +uneasily, as the woman showed signs of regaining consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Gordon, "you'll stay where you are and shade her with her +umbrella. She'll be all right in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +The girl opened her eyes, and looking up saw Gordon bending over her. +She regarded him for a moment and made an effort to rise, and in her +endeavor to do so her eyes met those of the Frenchman, and with a sharp +moan she shut them again and threw herself from Gordon's knee to the +sand. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me that umbrella," said Gordon, "and go stand over there out of +the way." +</P> + +<P> +The man rose from his knee without showing any resentment and walked +some little distance away, where he stood with his arms folded, looking +out to sea. He seemed much too occupied with something of personal +interest to concern himself with a woman's fainting-spell. The girl +lifted herself slowly to her elbow, and then, before Gordon could +assist her, rose with a quick, graceful movement and stood erect upon +her feet. She placed a detaining hand for an instant on the American's +arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you very much," she said. "I am afraid I have been imprudent in +going out into the sun." Her eyes were fixed upon the Frenchman, who +stood moodily staring at the sea and tearing one of his finger-nails +with his teeth. He seemed utterly oblivious of their presence. The +girl held out her hand for the parasol she had dropped and took it from +Gordon with a bow. +</P> + +<P> +"May I walk back with you to your hotel?" he asked. "Unless this +gentleman——" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," the girl said, in tones which the Frenchman could have +easily overheard had he been listening. "I am quite able to go alone +now; it is only a step." +</P> + +<P> +She was still regarding the Frenchman closely; but as he was obviously +unconscious of them she moved so that Gordon hid her from him, and in +an entirely different voice she said, speaking rapidly,— +</P> + +<P> +"You are Mr. Gordon, the American who joined us last night. That man +is a spy from Messina. He is Renauld, the Commander-in-Chief of their +army. He must be gotten away from here at once. It is a matter for a +man to attend to. Will you do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know this?" Gordon asked. "How do you know he is General +Renauld? I want to be certain." +</P> + +<P> +The girl tossed her head impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"He was pointed out to me at Messina. I saw him there in command at a +review. He has just spoken to me—that was what frightened me into +that fainting-spell. I didn't think I was so weak," she said, shaking +her head. "He offered me a bribe to inform him of our plans. I tell +you he is a spy." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said Gordon, reassuringly; "you go back to the +hotel now and send those guards here on a run. I'll make a charge +against him and have him locked up until after we sail to-night. +Hurry, please; I'll stay here." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon felt a pleasurable glow of excitement. It was his nature to +throw himself into everything he did and to at once become a partisan. +It was a quality which made his writings attractive to the reader, and +an object of concern to his editor. At the very word "spy," and at +this first hint of opposition to the cause in which he had but just +enlisted, he thrilled as though it had always been his own, and he +regarded the Frenchman with a personal dislike as sudden as it was +unfounded. +</P> + +<P> +The Frenchman had turned and was walking in the direction of the city +gate. His eyes were bent on the sandy beach which stretched before +him, and he made his way utterly unmindful of the waves that stole up +to his feet and left little pools of water in his path. Gordon +beckoned impatiently to the two soldiers who came running toward him at +the hotel, and moved forward to meet them the sooner. He took one of +them by the wrist and pointed with his other hand at the retreating +figure of the Frenchman. +</P> + +<P> +"That man," he said, "is one of the King's enemies. The King is in +danger while that man is here. Your duty is to protect the King, so he +gives this foreigner into your charge." +</P> + +<P> +The soldier nodded his head in assent. "The King himself sent us," he +replied. +</P> + +<P> +"You will place him in the Civil Prison," Gordon continued, "until the +King is safe on his yacht, and you will not allow him to send for the +French Consul-General. If he sees the Consul-General he will tell him +a great many lies about you, and a great war-ship will come and your +Bashaw will be forced to pay the foreigners much money. I will go with +you and tell this man in his own tongue what you are going to do with +him." +</P> + +<P> +They walked hurriedly after the Frenchman, and when they had overtaken +him Gordon halted and bowed. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, please," he said. "These soldiers have an order for your +arrest. I speak the language, and if you have anything to say to them +I will interpret for you." +</P> + +<P> +The Frenchman stared from Gordon to the guards and then laughed +incredulously but with no great confidence. He had much to say, but he +demanded to know first why he should be arrested. +</P> + +<P> +"The lady you insulted," Gordon answered, gravely, "happened, +unfortunately for you, to be one of the King's guests. She has +complained to him, and he has sent these soldiers to put you where you +cannot trouble her again. You see, sir, you cannot annoy women with +impunity even in this barbarous country." +</P> + +<P> +"Insult her! I did not insult her," the man retorted. "That is not +the reason I am arrested." +</P> + +<P> +"You annoyed her so much that she fainted. I saw you," said Gordon, +backing away with the evident purpose of abandoning the foreigner to +his guards. +</P> + +<P> +"She has lied," the man cried, "either to the King or to me. I do not +know which, but I am here to find out. That is why I came to Tangier, +and I intend to learn the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"You've begun rather badly," Gordon answered, as he still retreated. +"In the Civil Prison your field of investigation will be limited." +</P> + +<P> +The Frenchman took a hasty step toward him, shrugging off the hand one +of the soldiers had placed on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you the Prince Kalonay, sir?" he demanded. "But surely not," he +added. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I am not the Prince," Gordon answered. "I bid you good-morning, +sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are on the other side," the man called after him eagerly, +with a tone of great relief. "I have been right from the very first. +I see it plainly. It is a double plot, and you are one of that woman's +dupes. Listen to me—I beg of you, listen to me—I have a story to +tell." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon paused and looked back at the man over his shoulder, doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"It's like the Arabian Nights," he said, with a puzzled smile. "There +was once a rich merchant of Bagdad and the Sultan was going to execute +him, but they put off the execution until he could tell them the story +of the Beautiful Countess and the French Envoy. I am sorry," he added, +shaking his head, "but I cannot listen now. I must not be seen talking +to you at all, and everyone can see us here." +</P> + +<P> +They were as conspicuous figures on the flat surface of the beach as +two palms in a desert, and Gordon was most anxious to escape, for he +was conscious that he could be observed from every point in the town. +A hundred yards away, on the terrace of the hotel, he saw the King, +Madame Zara, Barrat, and Erhaupt standing together watching them. +</P> + +<P> +"If the American leaves him now, we are safe," the King was saying. He +spoke in a whisper, as though he feared that even at that distance +Gordon and the Frenchman could overhear his words. "But if he remains +with him he will find out the truth, and that means ruin. He will ruin +us." +</P> + +<P> +"Look, he is coming this way," Zara answered. "He is leaving him. The +danger is past." +</P> + +<P> +The Frenchman raised his eyes and saw the four figures grouped closely +together on the terrace. +</P> + +<P> +"See, what did I tell you?" he cried. "She is with the King now. It +is a plot within a plot, and I believe you know it," he added, +furiously. "You are one of these brave blackmailers yourself—that is +why you will not let me speak." +</P> + +<P> +"Blackmailers!" said Gordon. "Confound your impudence, what the +devil do you mean by that?" +</P> + +<P> +But the Frenchman was staring angrily at the distant group on the +terrace, and Gordon turned his eyes in the same direction. Something +he saw in the strained and eager attitude of the four conspirators +moved him to a sudden determination. +</P> + +<P> +"That will do, you must go," he commanded, pointing with his arm toward +the city gate; and before the Frenchman could reply, he gave an order +to the guards, and they seized the foreigner roughly by either arm and +hurried him away. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God!" exclaimed the King, piously. "They have separated, and +the boy thinks he is rendering us great service. Well, and so he is, +the young fool." +</P> + +<P> +The group on the piazza remained motionless, watching Gordon as he +leisurely lit a cigar and stood looking out at the harbor until the +Frenchman had disappeared inside the city wall. Then he turned and +walked slowly after him. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not like that. I do not like his following him," said Barrat, +suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"That is nothing," answered the King. "He is going to play the spy and +see that the man is safely in jail. Then he will return and report to +us. We must congratulate him warmly. He follows at a discreet +distance, you observe, and keeps himself well out of sight. The boy +knows better than to compromise himself by being seen in conversation +with the man. Of course, if Renauld is set free we must say we had no +part in his arrest, that the American made the arrest on his own +authority. What a convenient tool the young man is. Why, his coming +really frightened us at first, and now—now we make a cat's-paw of +him." The King laughed merrily. "We undervalue ourselves sometimes, do +we not?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is a nice boy," said Zara. "I feel rather sorry for him. He +looked so anxious and distressed when I was so silly as to faint on the +beach just now. He handled me as tenderly as a woman would have +done—not that women have generally handled me tenderly," she added. +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking the simile was rather misplaced," said the King. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +Gordon passed the city wall and heard the gates swing to behind him. +The Frenchman and his two captors were just ahead, toiling heavily up +the steep and narrow street. Gordon threw his cigar from him and ran +leaping over the huge cobbles to the Frenchman's side and touched him +on the shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"We are out of sight of the hotel, now, General," he said. He pointed +to the dark, cool recesses of a coffee-shop and held back the rug that +hung before it. "Come in here," he said, "and tell me that story." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<P> +Baron Barrat was suspicious by education—his experience of life and +his own conduct had tended to render him so; and accordingly when, +three hours after he had seen Gordon apparently commit the French +officer to jail, he found them leaving a cafe in the most friendly and +amicable spirit, he wasted no time in investigation, but hurried at +once to warn the King. +</P> + +<P> +"What we feared would happen, has happened," he said. "The Frenchman +has told Gordon that Zara and Kalonay sold the secret of the +expedition, and Gordon will be coming here to warn you of it. Now, +what are you going to do? We must act quickly." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall refuse to believe the Frenchman, of course," said the King. +"I shall ask Zara in his presence to answer his charges, and she will +tell him he lies. That is all there will be of it. What does it +matter what he says? We sail at midnight. We can keep him quiet until +then." +</P> + +<P> +"If he is troublesome I can call for help from this room, and the +servants of the hotel and the guards will rush in and find us +struggling together. We will charge him with an attempt at +assassination, and this time he surely will go to jail. By to-morrow +morning we shall be many miles at sea." +</P> + +<P> +"But he can cable to Messina, by way of Gibraltar, and head us off," +objected Barrat. +</P> + +<P> +"What can he cable?" demanded the King. "Nothing the people of the +Republic do not already know. It is our friends here that must not +find us out. That is the main thing. Thank Heaven!" he exclaimed, +"Kalonay and Paul are out of the way, and those crazy boys from Paris. +We will settle it here among ourselves in five minutes." +</P> + +<P> +"And the American?" asked Zara. "He knows, he will come with him. +Suppose he believes, suppose he believes that Kalonay and I have sold +you out, but suspects that you know it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The American can go to the devil," said the King. "Confound him and +his insolence. I'll have him in the prison too, if he interferes. Or +Erhaupt can pick a quarrel with him here and fight it out behind the +sand-hills before the others get back from their picnic. He has done +as much for me before." +</P> + +<P> +Zara stood up. She was trembling slightly, and she glanced fearfully +from Erhaupt to the King. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not do that," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"And why not, madame?" demanded Louis. +</P> + +<P> +"Because it will be murder," Zara whispered. "He will murder him as he +did that boy in the Park at Pesth." +</P> + +<P> +"What does the woman mean?" growled the German. "Is she mad? Send her +to her room, Louis." +</P> + +<P> +"You know what I mean," Zara answered, her voice rising, in her +excitement. "You fired before they gave the word. I know you did. +Oh, Louis," she cried, "you never warned me it might come to this. I +am afraid. I am afraid to meet that man——" +</P> + +<P> +She gave a sudden cry. "And Kalonay!" She held out her hands +appealingly. "Indeed," she cried, "do not let Kalonay question me." +</P> + +<P> +"Silence!" commanded the King. "You are acting like a fool." He +advanced toward her, and clasped her wrist firmly in his hand. "No +nerves, now," he said. "I'll not have it. You shall meet Kalonay, and +you shall swear that he is in the plot against me. If you fail us now, +we are ruined. As it is, we are sure to lose the bribe from the +Republic, but we may still get Miss Carson's money if you play your +part. It is your word and the word of the Frenchman against Kalonay's. +And we have the paper signed by you for Kalonay as evidence. Have you +got it with you?" +</P> + +<P> +Zara bowed her head. "It is always with me," she answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Good," said the King. "It will be a difficult chance, but if you +stand to your story, and we pretend to believe you, the others may +believe you, too." +</P> + +<P> +"But I cannot," Zara cried. "I know I cannot. I tell you if you put +me face to face with Kalonay, I shall fail you. I shall break down. +They will see that I am lying. Send me away. Send me away before they +come. Tell them I saw the Frenchman, and suspected I had been found +out, and that I have gone away. Tell them you don't know where I am." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe she's right," Erhaupt said. "She will do us more harm than +good. Let her go to her room and wait there." +</P> + +<P> +"She will remain where she is," said the King, sternly. "And she will +keep her courage and her wits about her, or——" +</P> + +<P> +He was interrupted by an exclamation from Barrat. "Whatever you mean +to do, you must do it at once," he said, grimly. He was standing at +the window which overlooked the beach. "Here they come now," he +continued. "The American has taken no chances, he is bringing an +audience with him." +</P> + +<P> +The King and Erhaupt ran to the window, and peered over Barrat's +shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +Advancing toward them along the beach, some on foot, and some on +horseback, were all the members of the expedition, those who had been +of the riding-party and those who had remained in Tangier. Gordon and +the Frenchman Renauld were far in the lead, walking by themselves and +speaking earnestly together; Father Paul was walking with Mrs. Carson +and her daughter, and Kalonay was riding with two of the volunteers, +the Count de Rouen and Prince Henri of Poitiers. +</P> + +<P> +When the King and Erhaupt turned from the window the Countess Zara had +disappeared. "It is better so," said Erhaupt; "she was so badly +frightened she would have told the truth." +</P> + +<P> +The King stood leaning on the back of a large arm-chair. "Well, the +moment has come, it is our last chance," he said. "Send for the Crown +Prince, Baron. I shall be discovered in the act of taking a tender +farewell of my son." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat made an eager gesture of dissent. +</P> + +<P> +"I would not do that," he cried. "If we are to make charges against +the jackal do not have the boy present; the boy must not hear them. +You know how Kalonay worships the child, and it would enrage him more +to be exposed before the Prince than before all the rest of the world. +He will be hard enough to handle without that. Don't try him too far." +</P> + +<P> +"You are absurd, Barrat," exclaimed the King. "The boy won't +understand what is said." +</P> + +<P> +"No, but the Jackal will," Barrat returned. "You don't understand him, +Louis, he is like a woman; he has sentiment and feelings, and when we +all turn on him he will act like a madman. Keep the boy out of his +sight, I tell you. It's the only thing he cares for in the world. He +has been a better father to him than you ever have been." +</P> + +<P> +"That was quite natural; that was because it was his duty," said the +King, calmly. "A Kalonay has always been the protector and tutor of +the heir-apparent. If this one chooses to give his heart with his +service, that is not my concern. Why, confound them, they all think +more of the child than they do of me. That is why I need him by me +now." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat shook his head. "I tell you it will make trouble," he +persisted. "Kalonay will not stand it. He and the child are more like +comrades than a tutor and his pupil. Why, Kalonay would rather sit +with the boy in the Champs-Elysees and point out the people as they go +by than drive at the side of the prettiest woman in Paris. He always +treats him as though he saw the invisible crown upon his head; he will +throw over any of us to stay in the nursery and play tin soldiers with +him. And when he was ill—" Barrat nodded his head significantly. +"You remember." +</P> + +<P> +"That will do," said the King. "We have no time to consider the finer +feelings of the jackal; he is to be sacrificed, and that is all there +is of it. The presence of the child may make him more unmanageable, +but it will certainly make it easier for me. So go, bring the boy here +as I bid you." +</P> + +<P> +Barrat left the room and returned immediately, followed by the Crown +Prince and his nurse. The Prince was a dark, handsome little fellow of +four years. His mother had died when he was born, and he had never +played with children of his own age, and his face was absurdly wise and +wistful; but it lighted with a sweet and grateful smile when anyone +showed him kindness or sought to arouse his interest. To the Crown +Prince Kalonay was an awful and wonderful being. He was the one person +who could make him laugh out of pure happiness and for no reason, as a +child should laugh. And people who had seen them together asked which +of the princes was the older of the two. When the child entered the +room, clinging to Barrat's finger, he carried in his other hand a +wooden spade and bucket, still damp with sand, and he was dressed in a +shabby blue sailor suit which left his little legs bare, and exposed +the scratches and bruises of many falls. A few moments later, when the +conspirators entered the King's salon, preceded by Erhaupt, they found +the boy standing by his father's knee. The King had his hand upon the +child's head, and had been interrupted apparently in a discourse on the +dignity of kingship, for the royal crown of Messina had been brought +out and stood beside him on the table, and his other hand rested on it +reverently. It was an effective tableau, and the visitors observed it +with varying emotions, but with silence. +</P> + +<P> +The King rose, taking his son's hand in his, and bowed, looking +inquiringly from Barrat to the Prince Kalonay. +</P> + +<P> +"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked. "Was it +discreet of you to come together in this way? But you are most +welcome. Place chairs for the ladies, Barrat." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay glanced at the others, and they nodded to him as though to make +him their spokesman. He pointed at Gordon with his cap. +</P> + +<P> +"We are here on the invitation of this gentleman, your Majesty," he +said. "He took it upon himself to send after those of us who had gone +into the country, and came in person for the others who remained in +town. He tells us he has news of the greatest importance to +communicate, which he cannot disclose except to you, and in the +presence of all of those who are to take part in the expedition. We +decided to accompany him here, as he asked us, and to leave it to your +Majesty to say whether or not you wished us to remain." Kalonay smiled +in apology at the King, and the King answered him with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"The procedure is perhaps unconventional," the King said, "but in +America they move quickly. No doubt our young companion has acted as +he thought was for the best. If he has taken a liberty, the nature of +his news will probably excuse him. Perhaps, Mr. Gordon," he added, +turning to the American, "you had better first tell me what this +discovery is, and I will decide whether it is best to discuss it in +open council." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon did not appear to be the least disturbed by the criticism +Kalonay and the King had passed upon his conduct. He only smiled +pleasantly when the King had finished speaking, and showed no +inclination to accept a private audience. +</P> + +<P> +"What I have to say, your Majesty," he began, "is this. I have learned +that all the secrets of your expedition have been sold to the Republic +of Messina. One of those now present in this room is charged with +having sold them. Shall I go on," he asked, "or do you still think it +advisable for anyone to leave the room?" +</P> + +<P> +He paused and glanced from the King to the double row of conspirators, +who were standing together in a close semicircle facing the King and +himself. The instant he ceased speaking there rose from their ranks an +outburst of consternation, of anger, and of indignant denial. The +King's spirits rose within him at the sound, although he frowned and +made a gesture as though to command silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gordon, this is a serious charge you make," he said, smiling +grimly. "One that may cost you a great deal—it might cost you your +life perhaps." He paused significantly, and there was a second +outburst, this time from the younger men, which came so suddenly that +it was as though Louis had played upon certain chords on a keyboard, +and the sounds he wanted had answered to his touch. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me, that is not the question," said Gordon. "That I make +charges or run risks in making charges is not important. That your +expedition has failed before it has even started is, however, of great +importance, at least so it sees to me." +</P> + +<P> +There was a movement in the circle, and Father Paul pushed his way +forward from his place beside Miss Carson's chair. He was so greatly +moved that when he spoke his voice was harsh and broken. "What is your +authority for saying we have failed?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon bowed gravely and turned and pointed to the Frenchman. "This +gentleman," he said, "is General Renauld, Commander-in-Chief of the +army of Messina. He is my authority. He knows all that you mean to +do. If he knows it, it is likely, is it not, that his army and the +President of the Republic know it also, and that when we attempt to +land they will be waiting for us." +</P> + +<P> +The King silenced the second outburst that followed this by rising and +holding up his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence! I believe I can explain," he said. He was smiling, and his +bearing was easy and so full of assurance that the exclamations and +whispers died away on the instant. "I am afraid I see what has +happened," the King said. "But there need be no cause for alarm. This +gentleman is, as Mr. Gordon says, the Commander-in-Chief of the +Messinian army, and it is true he suspected that an armed force would +invade the island. It is not strange that he should have suspected it, +and it needed no traitor to enlighten him. The visit of Father Paul +and the Prince Kalonay in the yacht, and their speeches inciting the +people to rebellion, would have warned the government that an +expedition might soon follow. The return of our yacht to this place +has no doubt been made known in Messina through the public press, and +General Renauld followed the yacht here to learn what he could of our +plans—of our intended movements. He came here to spy on us, and as a +spy I ordered Mr. Gordon to arrest him this morning on any charge he +pleased, and to place him out of our way until after to-night, when we +should have sailed. I chose Mr. Gordon to undertake this service +because he happened to speak the language of the country, and it was +necessary to deal directly with the local authorities without the +intervention of an outsider. What has happened is only too evident. +The spy, who when he came here only suspected, now, as Mr. Gordon says, +knows the truth, and he could have learned it only from one person, to +whom he has no doubt paid a pretty price for the information." The +King took a step forward and pointed with his hand at the American. "I +gave that man into your keeping, sir," he cried, "but I had you +watched. Instead of placing him in jail you took him to a cafe and +remained there with him for three hours, and from that cafe you came +directly here to this room. If he knows the truth, he learned it in +that cafe, and he learned it from you!" There was a ring of such +earnestness and sincerity in the King's speech, and he delivered it +with such indignation and bitter contempt that a shout of relief, of +approbation and conviction, went up from his hearers, and fell as +quickly on the words as the applause of an audience drowns out the last +note of a great burst of song. Barrat, in the excess of his relief, +turned his back sharply on the King, glancing sideways at Erhaupt and +shaking his head in speechless admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"He is wonderful, simply wonderful," Erhaupt muttered; "he would have +made a great actor or a great diplomat." +</P> + +<P> +"He is wasted as a King," whispered Barrat. +</P> + +<P> +There was a menacing movement on the part of the younger men toward +Gordon and General Renauld, which the King noted, but which he made no +effort to check. Neither Gordon nor General Renauld gave any sign that +they observed it. The American was busily engaged in searching his +pockets, and from one of these he produced two pieces of paper, which +he held up above his head, so that those in the room might see them. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, please," he began, and then waited until the tumult in the +room had ceased. "Again, I must point out to you," he said, in brisk, +business-like tones, "that we are digressing. The important thing is +not who did, or did not, sell out the expedition, but that it is in +danger of failing altogether. What his Majesty says is in part +correct. I did not take this gentleman to jail; I did take him to a +cafe, and there he told me much more concerning the expedition than I +had learned from those directly interested. His information, he told +me, had been sold to the Republic by one who visited the island and who +claimed to act for one other. I appreciated the importance of what he +said, and I also guessed that my word and his unsupported might be +doubted, as you have just doubted it. So I took the liberty of +verifying what General Renauld told me by cabling to the President of +Messina." +</P> + +<P> +There was a shout of consternation at these words, but Gordon's manner +was so confident and the audacity of his admission so surprised his +hearers that they were silent again immediately, and waited, with +breathless interest, while Gordon unfolded one of the pieces of paper. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a copy of the cablegram I sent the President," he said, "and +to which, with his permission, I signed General Renauld's name. It is +as follows:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The President. The Palace, Messina.—They will not believe you are +fully informed. Cable at once the exact hour when they will leave +Tangier, at what hour they expect to land, at what place they expect to +land, what sum you have promised to pay for this information, and the +names of those to whom it is to be paid. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +RENAULD. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Gordon lowered the paper. "Is that quite clear?" he asked. "Do you +follow me? I have invited the enemy himself to inform you of your +plans, and to tell you who has betrayed them. His answer, which was +received a half hour ago, removes all suspicion from any save those he +names. General Renauld and myself cease to be of the least consequence +in the matter; we are only messengers. It is the President of Messina +who will speak to you now. If you still doubt that the secret of your +expedition is known to the President you will have to doubt him." +</P> + +<P> +The King sprang quickly to his feet and struck the arm of his chair +sharply with his open hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not permit that message to be read," he said. "If we have a +traitor here, he is a traitor against me. And I shall deal with him as +I see fit, in private." +</P> + +<P> +There was a murmur of disappointment and of disapproval even, and the +King again struck the arm of his chair for silence. Kalonay advanced +toward him, shaking his head and holding out his hands in protest. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty, I beseech you," he began. "This concerns us all," he +cried. "It is too evident that we have been betrayed; but it is not +fair to any of us that we should all lie under suspicion, as we must +unless it is told who has been guilty of this infamy. I beg your +Majesty to reconsider. There is no one in this room who is not in our +secret, and whoever has betrayed us must be with us here and now. I, +who have an interest second only to your own, ask that that cablegram +be read." +</P> + +<P> +There was a murmur of approbation from the conspirators, and +exclamations of approval and entreaty. Miss Carson, in her excitement, +had risen to her feet and was standing holding her mother's hand. The +King glanced uncertainly at Kalonay, and then turned to Barrat and +Erhaupt as if in doubt. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon's eyes were fixed for a moment on Kalonay with a strange and +puzzled expression. Then he gave a short sigh of relief, and turning +quickly searched the faces of those around him. What he saw seemed to +confirm him in his purpose, for he folded the paper and placed it in +his pocket. "His Majesty is right," he said. "I shall not read this." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay and Father Paul turned upon him angrily. "You have no choice +in the matter, sir," Kalonay cried. "It has passed entirely out of +your hands." +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your Majesty that the cablegram be read," the priest demanded, +in a voice that held less the tone of a request than of a command. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not read it," persisted Gordon, "because the person chiefly +concerned is not present." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"That is all the more reason for reading it," said Kalonay. "Your +Majesty must reconsider." +</P> + +<P> +The King whispered to Barrat, and the others waited in silence that +expressed their interest more clearly than a chorus of questions would +have done. +</P> + +<P> +"It shall be as you ask," the King said, at last. "You may read the +message, Mr. Gordon." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon opened the paper and looked at it for some seconds of time with +a grave and perplexed expression, and then, with a short breath, as one +who takes a plunge, read it aloud. "This is it," he said. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +To General Renauld. Cable Office, Tangier.—They leave Tangier Tuesday +at midnight, they land at daybreak Thursday morning on the south beach +below the old breakwater. The secret of the expedition was sold us for +three hundred thousand francs by the Countess Zara and the Prince +Kalonay. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Gordon stuck the paper in his pocket, and, crossing to Kalonay, held +out his hand, with a smile. "I don't believe it, of course," he said; +"but you would have it." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay neither saw the gesture nor heard the words. He was turning in +bewilderment from the King to Father Paul, and he laughed uncertainly. +</P> + +<P> +"What nonsense is this?" he demanded. "Whose sorry trick is this? The +lie is not even ingenious." +</P> + +<P> +General Renauld had not spoken since he had entered the room, but now +he advanced in front of Kalonay and faced him with a threatening +gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"The President of Messina does not lie, sir," he said, sternly. "I +myself saw the Countess Zara write out that paper, which I and others +signed, and in which we agreed to pay to her and to you the money you +asked for betraying your King." +</P> + +<P> +Father Paul pressed his hand heavily on Kalonay's shoulder. "Do not +answer him," he commanded. Gordon had moved to Kalonay's other side, +and the three men had unconsciously assumed an attitude of defence, and +stood back to back in a little group facing the angry circle that +encompassed them. The priest raised his arm to command a hearing. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Madame Zara?" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, where indeed?" echoed the King, sinking back into his chair. "She +has fled. It is all too evident now; she has betrayed us and she has +fled." +</P> + +<P> +But on his words, as if in answer to the priest's summons, the curtains +that hid the door into the King's private room were pulled to one side, +and Madame Zara appeared between them, glancing fearfully at the +excited crowd before her. As she stood hesitating on the threshold, +she swayed slightly and clutched the curtains for a moment as though +for support. The priest advanced, and led her to the centre of the +room. She held a folded paper in her hand, which she gave to him in +silence. +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard what has passed?" he asked, with a toss of his head +toward the heavy curtains. The woman raised her head and bowed. The +priest unfolded the paper. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I to read this?" he asked. The woman bowed again. +</P> + +<P> +There was silence in the room while the priest's eyes ran quickly over +the paper. He crushed it in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"It is as General Renauld says," he exclaimed. "In this the Republic +of Messina agrees to pay the Countess Zara and the Prince Kalonay three +hundred thousand francs, if the expedition is withdrawn after it has +made a pretence of landing on the shores of Messina." +</P> + +<P> +He took a step forward. "Madame Zara," he cried, in a tone of warning, +"do you pretend that the Prince Kalonay was your accomplice in this; +that he knew what you meant to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Madame Zara once more bowed her head. +</P> + +<P> +"No! You must speak," commanded the priest. "Answer me!" +</P> + +<P> +Zara hesitated, in evident distress, and glanced appealingly at the +King; but the expression on his face was one of grief and of +unrelenting virtue. "I do," she said, at last, in a low voice. +"Kalonay did know. He thought the revolution would not succeed; he +thought it would fail, and so—and so—and we needed money. They made +me—I, O my God, I cannot—I cannot!" she cried, suddenly, sinking on +her knees and hiding her face with her hands. +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay stepped toward her and lifted her gently to her feet; but when +she looked and saw who it was that held her, she gave a cry and pulled +herself free. She staggered and would have fallen, had not Gordon +caught and held her by the arm. The King rose from his chair and +pointed at the shrinking figure of the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand aside from her," he said, sternly. "Why should we pity her, +what pity has she shown for us—for me? She has robbed me of my +inheritance. But let her go, she is a woman; we cannot punish her. +Her sins rest on her own head. But you—you," he cried, turning +fiercely on Kalonay, his voice rising to a high and melancholy key, +"you whom I have heaped with honors, whom I have leaned upon as on the +arm of a brother, that you should have sold me for silver, that you +should have turned Judas!" +</P> + +<P> +The crowd of volunteers, bewildered by the rapid succession of events, +and confused and rendered desperate by the failure of their expedition, +caught up the word, and pressing forward with a rush, surrounded +Kalonay in an angry circle, crying "Judas!" "Traitor!" and "Coward!" +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay turned from side to side. On some he smiled bitterly in +silence, and at others he broke out into swift and fierce +denunciations; but the men around him crowded closer and would not +permit him to be heard. He had turned upon them, again challenging +them to listen, when there was an opening in the circle and the men +stepped back, and Miss Carson pushed her way among them and halted at +Kalonay's side. She did not look at him, but at the men about him. +She was the only calm figure in the group, and her calmness at such a +crisis, and her youth, and the fineness and fearlessness of her beauty, +surprised them into a sudden quiet. There was instantly a cry for +order, and the men stood curious and puzzled, watching to see what she +would do. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," she said, in a clear, grave voice. "Gentlemen," she +repeated, sharply, as a few murmurs still greeted her, "if you are +gentlemen, let this lady speak. She has not finished." She crossed +quickly and took the Countess Zara by the hand. "Go on, madame," she +urged, gently. "Do not be afraid. You say they made you do it. Who +made you do it? You have told us a part of the truth. Now tell us the +whole truth." For a moment the girl seemed much the older of the two, +and as Zara glanced up at her fearfully, she smiled to reassure her, +and stroked the woman's hand with her own. "Who made you do it?" she +repeated. "Not the Prince Kalonay, surely. You cannot hope to make us +believe that. We trust him absolutely. Who was it, then?" +</P> + +<P> +The King sprang forward with an oath; his apathy and mock dignity had +fallen from him like a mask. His face was mottled, and his vicious +little eyes flashed with fear and anger. Erhaupt crowded close behind +him, crouching like a dog at his heels. +</P> + +<P> +"She has lied enough already," the King cried. "We will not listen to +her. Take her away." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, let her go," shouted Erhaupt, with a laugh. "If she had been a +decent woman——" +</P> + +<P> +There was a quick parting in the group and the sound of a heavy blow as +Kalonay flung himself upon Erhaupt and struck him in the face, so that +he staggered and fell at length upon the floor. Gordon stood over him, +his fingers twitching at his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand up, you bully," he said, "and get out of this, before we throw +you out." +</P> + +<P> +Zara's face had turned a pitiful crimson, but her eyes flashed and +burned with resolve and indignation. She stood erect and menacing, +like an angry goddess, and more beautiful in her indignation than they +had ever seen her. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, I shall tell them the truth," she said, sternly. "That man," she +cried, pointing her finger at the King, "that man whom they call a +King—that man who would have sacrificed the only friend who serves him +unselfishly—is the man who sold your secret to the enemy. It was he +who made me do it. He sent me to Messina, and while the priest and the +Prince Kalonay were working in the south, I sold them to the government +at the capital. Barrat knew it, Erhaupt knew it, the King himself +planned it—to get money. He has robbed all of his own people; he had +meant to rob this young girl; and he is so mean and pitiful a creature +that to save himself he now tries to hide behind the skirts of a woman, +and to sacrifice her,—the woman who has given her soul to him. And +for this—my God!" she cried, her voice rising in an accent of agony +and bitter contempt—"for this!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a grim and momentous silence in the room while Zara turned, +and without waiting to learn what effect her words might have, made her +way swiftly through the crowd and passed on out of the room and on to +the terrace beyond. +</P> + +<P> +The King crouched back in his chair like a common criminal in the dock, +glancing fearfully from under his lowered eyebrows at the faces about +him, and on none did he see the least question of doubt but that Zara +had at last spoken the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"She lies," the King muttered, as though answering their unspoken +thoughts, "the woman lies." +</P> + +<P> +There was no movement from the men about him. Shame for him, and grief +and bitter disappointment for themselves, showed on the face of each. +From outside a sea-breeze caught up the sand of the beach and drove it +whispering against the high windows, and the beat of the waves upon the +shores filled out and marked the silence of the room. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince Kalonay stepped from the circle and stood for a moment +before the King, regarding him with an expression of grief and bitter +irony. The King's eyes rose insolently, and faltered, and sank. +</P> + +<P> +"For many years, your Majesty," the Prince said, but so solemnly that +it was as though he were a judge upon the bench, or a priest speaking +across an open grave, "the Princes of my house have served the Kings of +yours. In times of war they fought for the King in battle, they +beggared themselves for him in times of peace; our women sold their +jewels for the King, our men gave him their lives, and in all of these +centuries the story of their loyalty, of their devotion, has had but +one sequel, and has met with but one reward,—ingratitude and +selfishness and treachery. You know how I have served you, Louis. You +know that I gave up my fortune and my home to go into exile with you, +and I did that gladly. But I did more than that. I did more than any +king or any man has the right to expect of any other man. I served +your idle purposes so well that you, yourself, called me your jackal, +the only title your Majesty has ever bestowed that was deserved. There +is no low thing nor no base thing that I have not done for you. To +serve your pleasures, to gain you money, I have sunken so low that all +the royal blood in Europe could not make me clean. But there is a +limit to what a man may do for his King, and to the loyalty a King may +have the right to demand. And to-day and here, with me, the story of +our devotion to your House ends, and you go your way and I go mine, and +the last of my race breaks his sword and throws it at your feet, and is +done with you and yours forever." +</P> + +<P> +Even those in the room who held no sympathy in their hearts for the +sentiment that had inspired the young man, felt that at that moment and +in their hearing he had renounced what was to him his religion and his +faith, and on the faces of all was the expression of a deep pity and +concern. Their own adventure, in the light of his grief and bitterness +of spirit, seemed selfish and little, and they stood motionless, in an +awed and sorrowful silence. +</P> + +<P> +The tense strain of the moment was broken suddenly by the advent on the +scene of an actor who had, in the rush of events, been neglected and +forgotten. The little Crown Prince had stood clinging to his nurse's +skirts, an uncomprehending spectator of what was going forward. But he +now advanced slowly, feeling that the silence invited him to claim his +father's notice. He halted beside the chair in which Louis sat, his +head bent on his hands, and made an effort to draw himself up to his +father's knee. +</P> + +<P> +But the King pushed him down, and hid his face from him. The child +turned irresolutely, with a troubled countenance, and, looking up, saw +that the attention of all was fixed upon him. At this discovery a +sudden flood of shyness overtook him, and he retreated hastily until +his eyes fell on the Prince Kalonay, standing alone, with his own eyes +turned resolutely away. There was a breathless hush in the room as the +child, with a happy sigh, ran to his former friend and comrade, and +reached up both his arms. The tableau was a familiar one to those who +knew them, and meant only that the child asked to be lifted up and +swung to the man's shoulder; but following as it did on what had just +passed, the gesture and the attitude carried with them the significance +of an appeal. Kalonay, as though with a great effort, lowered his eyes +to the upturned face of the child below him, but held himself back and +stood stiffly erect. A sharp shake of the head, as though he argued +with himself, was the only sign he gave of the struggle that was going +on within him. +</P> + +<P> +At this second repulse, the child's arms dropped to his side, his lips +quivered, and he stood, a lonely little figure, glancing up at the +circle of men about him, and struggling to press back the tears that +came creeping to his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay regarded him steadfastly for a brief moment, as though he saw +him as a stranger, searching his face with eyes as pitiful as the +child's own; and then, with a sudden, sharp cry, the Prince dropped on +his knee and caught the child toward him, crushing him against his +heart, and burying his face on his shoulder. There was a shout of +exultation from the nobles, and an uttered prayer from the priest, and +in a moment the young men had crowded in around them, struggling to be +the first to kiss the child's hands, and to ask pardon of the man who +held him in his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," Kalonay cried, his voice laughing through his tears, "we +shall still sail for the island of Messina. They shall not say of us +that we visited the sins of the father on a child. I was weak, my +friends, and I was credulous. I thought I could break the tradition of +centuries. But our instincts are stronger than our pride, and the +House I have always served I shall serve to the last." He swung the +Crown Prince high upon his shoulder, and held his other arm above his +head. "You will help me place this child upon his throne," he +commanded, and the room rang with cheers. "You will appeal to his +people," he cried. "Do you not think they will rise to this +standard-bearer, will they not rally to his call? For he is a true +Prince, my comrades, who comes to them with no stain of wrong or +treachery, without a taint, as untarnished as the white snow that lies +summer and winter in the hollow of our hills, `and a child shall lead +us, and a child shall set them free.' To the yacht!" he shouted. "We +will sail at once, and while they wait for us to be betrayed into their +hands at the north, we shall be landing in the south, and thousands +will be hurrying to our standard." +</P> + +<P> +His last words were lost in a tumult of cheers and cries, and the young +men poured out upon the terrace, running toward the shore, and filling +the soft night-air with shouts of "Long live the Prince Regent!" "Long +live our King!" +</P> + +<P> +As the room grew empty Kalonay crossed it swiftly and advancing to Miss +Carson took her hand. His face was radiant with triumph and content. +He regarded her steadily for a moment, as though he could not find +words to tell his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"You had faith in me," he said, at last. "Can I ever make you +understand how much that means to me? When all had turned against me +you trusted me, you had faith in me, in the King's jackal." +</P> + +<P> +"Silence; you must never say that again," the girl commanded, gently. +"You have shown it to be the lie it always was. We shall call you the +Defender of the Faith now; you are the guardian of a King." She smiled +at the little boy in his arms, and made a slight courtesy to them both. +"You have outgrown your old title," she said; "you have a proud one +now, you will be the Prince Regent." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay, with the child in his arms, and Miss Carson were standing +quite alone. General Renauld had been led away, guarded by a merry +band of youngsters; the King still crouched in his chair, with Barrat +bowed behind him, but pulling, with philosophic calm, on a cigarette, +and Father Paul and Gordon were in close conversation with Mrs. Carson +at the farther end of the room. The sun had set, and the apartment was +in semi-darkness. Kalonay moved closer to Miss Carson and looked +boldly into her eyes, "There is a prouder title than that of the +Regent," he whispered; "will you ever give it me?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl started, breathing quickly, and turned her head aside, making +an effort to free her hand, but Kalonay held it closer in his own. +"Will you give it me?" he begged. +</P> + +<P> +Then the girl looked up at him smiling, but with such confidence and +love in her eyes that he read his answer, though she shook her head, as +though to belie the truth her eyes had told him. +</P> + +<P> +"When you have done your work," she said, "come to me or send for me, +and I shall come and give you my answer; and whether you fail or +succeed the answer will be the same." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay stooped quickly and kissed her hand, and when he raised his +face his eyes were smiling with such happiness that the little child in +his arms read it there, and smiled too in sympathy, and pressed his +face closer against his comrade's shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon at this moment moved across the room and bowed, making a deep +obeisance to the child. +</P> + +<P> +"Might I be permitted," he asked, "to kiss his Royal Highness? I +should like to boast of the fact, later," he explained. +</P> + +<P> +The Crown Prince turned his sad, wise eyes on him in silence, and +gravely extended a little hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You may kiss his Highness's hand," said Kalonay, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon laughed and pressed the fingers in his own. +</P> + +<P> +"When you talk like that, Kalonay," he said, "you make me feel like +Alice in the court-room with the Kings and Queens around her. A dozen +times this afternoon I've felt like saying, `After all, they are only a +pack of cards.'" +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay shook his head and glanced toward Miss Carson for enlightenment. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you couldn't be expected to," said Gordon; "You have not been +educated up to that. It is the point of view." +</P> + +<P> +He stuck out the middle finger of his hand, and drove it three times +deliberately into the side of the Crown Prince. The child gasped and +stared open-mouthed at the friendly stranger, and then catching the +laugh in Gordon's eyes, laughed with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Gordon, "I shall say that I have dug the King of Messina in +the ribs—that is even better than having kissed him. God bless your +Royal Highness," he said, bowing gravely. "You may find me +disrespectful at times," he added; "but then, you must remember, I am +going to risk a valuable life for you. At least it's an extremely +valuable one to me." +</P> + +<P> +Kalonay looked at Gordon for a moment with serious consideration, and +then held out his hand. "You also had faith in me," he said. "I thank +you. Are you in earnest; do you really wish to serve us?" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean to stay by you until the boy is crowned," said the American, +"unless we separate on our several paths of glory—where they will lead +depends, I imagine, on how we have lived." +</P> + +<P> +"Or on how we die," Kalonay added. "I am glad to hear you speak so. +If you wish, I shall attach you to the person of the Crown Prince. You +shall be on the staff with the rank of Colonel." +</P> + +<P> +Gordon made a low and sweeping bow. +</P> + +<P> +"Rise, Sir Archibald Gordon," he said. "I thank you," he added. "We +shall strive to please." +</P> + +<P> +Miss Carson shook her head at him, and sighed in protest. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you always take everything as a joke, Archie?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Patty," he answered, "the situation is much too serious to +take in any other way." +</P> + +<P> +They moved to the door, and there the priest and Mrs. Carson joined +them; but on the threshold Kalonay stopped and looked for the first +time since he had addressed him at the King. +</P> + +<P> +He regarded him for some seconds sternly in silence, and then pointed, +with his free hand, at the crown of Messina, which still rested on the +table at the King's elbow. "Colonel Gordon," he said, in a tone of +assured authority, "I give the crown of Messina into your keeping. You +will convey it, with all proper regard for its dignity, safely on board +the yacht, and then bring it at once to me." +</P> + +<P> +When he had finished speaking the Prince turned and, without looking at +the King, passed on with the others across the terrace and disappeared +in the direction of the shore, where the launch lay waiting. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon crossed the room and picked up the crown from the table, lifting +it with both hands, the King and Barrat watching him in silence as he +did so. He hesitated, and held it for a moment, regarding it with much +the same expression of awe and amusement that a man shows when he is +permitted to hold a strange baby in his arms. Turning, he saw the +sinister eyes of the King and of Barrat fastened upon him, and he +smiled awkwardly, and in some embarrassment turned the crown about in +his hands, so that the jewels in its circle gleamed dully in the dim +light of the room. Gordon raised the crown and balanced it on his +finger-tips, regarding it severely and shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +"There are very few of these left in the world now, your Majesty," he +said, cheerfully, "and the number is getting smaller every year. We +have none at all in my country, and I should think—seeing they are so +few—that those who have them would take better care of them, and try +to keep them untarnished, and brushed up, and clean." He turned his +head and looked inquiringly at the King, but Louis made no sign that he +heard him. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no desire, you understand me," continued Gordon, unabashed, "to +take advantage of a man when he is down, but the temptation to say `I +told you so' seems almost impossible to resist. What?" he asked—"I +beg your pardon, I thought you spoke." But the King continued +scornfully silent, and only a contemptuous snort from Barrat expressed +his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon placed the crown carefully under his arm, and then removed it +quickly, with a guilty look of dismay at its former owner, and let it +swing from his hand; but this fashion of carrying it seemed also +lacking in respect, so he held it up again with both hands and glanced +at the King in some perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"There ought to be a sofa-cushion to go with this, or something to +carry it on," he said, in a grieved tone. "You see, I am new at this +sort of thing. Perhaps your Majesty would kindly give me some expert +information. How do you generally carry it?" +</P> + +<P> +The King's eyes snapped open and shut again. +</P> + +<P> +"On my head," he said, grimly. +</P> + +<P> +Gordon laughed in great relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, do you know, I like that," he cried. "That shows spirit. I am +glad to see you take it so cheerfully. Well, I must be going, sir," he +added, nodding, and moving toward the door. "Don't be discouraged. As +someone says, `It's always morning somewhere,' and in my country +there's just as good men out of office as there are in it. Good-night." +</P> + +<P> +While the sound of Gordon's footsteps died away across the marble +terrace, the King and Barrat remained motionless and silent. The +darkness in the room deepened and the silence seemed to deepen with it; +and still they remained immovable, two shadowy figures in the deserted +apartment where the denunciations of those who had abandoned them still +seemed to hang and echo in the darkness. What thoughts passed through +their minds or for how long a time they might still have sat in bitter +contemplation can only be guessed, for they were surprised by the sharp +rattle of a lock, the two great doors of the adjoining room were thrown +wide open, and a broad and brilliant light flooded the apartment. +Niccolas, the King's majordomo, stood between the doors, a black +silhouette against the glare of many candles. +</P> + +<P> +"His Majesty is served!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +The King lifted his head sharply, as though he found some lurking +mockery in the words, or some fresh affront; but in the obsequious bow +of his majordomo there was no mockery, and the table beyond glistened +with silver, while a pungent and convincing odor of rich food was +wafted insidiously through the open doors. +</P> + +<P> +The King rose with a gentle sigh, and nodded to his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Barrat," he said, taking the baron's arm in his. "The rascals +have robbed us of our throne, but, thank God, they have had the grace +to leave me my appetite." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The King's Jackal, by Richard Harding Davis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S JACKAL *** + +***** This file should be named 411-h.htm or 411-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/411/ + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The King's Jackal + +Author: Richard Harding Davis + +Release Date: January 22, 2008 [EBook #411] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S JACKAL *** + + + + + + + + + +THE KING'S JACKAL + + +BY + +RICHARD HARDING DAVIS + + + + +The King's Jackal + + +I + +The private terrace of the Hotel Grand Bretagne, at Tangier, was shaded +by a great awning of red and green and yellow, and strewn with colored +mats, and plants in pots, and wicker chairs. It reached out from the +Kings apartments into the Garden of Palms, and was hidden by them on +two sides, and showed from the third the blue waters of the +Mediterranean and the great shadow of Gibraltar in the distance. + +The Sultan of Morocco had given orders from Fez that the King of +Messina, in spite of his incognito, should be treated during his stay +in Tangier with the consideration due to his rank, so one-half of the +Hotel Grand Bretagne had been set aside for him and his suite, and two +soldiers of the Bashaw's Guard sat outside of his door with drawn +swords. They were answerable with their heads for the life and safety +of the Sultan's guest, and as they could speak no language but their +own, they made a visit to his Majesty more a matter of adventure than +of etiquette. + +Niccolas, the King's majordomo, stepped out upon the terrace and swept +the Mediterranean with a field-glass for the third time since sunrise. +He lowered it, and turned doubtfully toward the two soldiers. + +"The boat from Gibraltar--has she arrived yet?" he asked. + +The two ebony figures shook their heads stiffly, as though they +resented this introduction of a foreign language, and continued to +shake their heads as the servant addressed the same question to them in +a succession of strange tongues. + +"Well," said Colonel Erhaupt, briskly, as he followed Niccolas out upon +the terrace, "has the boat arrived? And the launch from the yacht," he +continued, "has it started for shore yet?" + +The man pointed to where the yacht lay, a mile outside the harbor, and +handed him the glass. + +"It is but just now leaving the ship's side," he said. "But I cannot +make out who comes in her. Ah, pardon," he added quickly, as he +pointed to a stout elderly gentleman who walked rapidly toward them +through the garden. "The Gibraltar boat must be in, sir. Here is +Baron Barrat coming up the path." + +Colonel Erhaupt gave an exclamation of satisfaction, and waved his hand +to the newcomer in welcome. + +"Go tell his Majesty," he said to the servant. + +The man hesitated and bowed. "His Majesty still sleeps." + +"Wake him," commanded Erhaupt. "Tell him I said to do so. Well, +Baron," he cried, gayly, as he stepped forward, "welcome--or are you +welcome?" he added, with an uneasy laugh. + +"I should be. I have succeeded," the other replied gruffly, as he +brushed past him. "Where is the King?" + +"He will be here in a moment. I have sent to wake him. And you have +been successful? Good. I congratulate you. How far successful?" + +The Baron threw himself into one of the wicker chairs, and clapped his +hands impatiently for a servant. "Twelve thousand pounds in all," he +replied. "That's more than he expected. It was like pulling teeth at +first. I want some coffee at once," he said to the attendant, "and a +bath. That boat reeked with Moors and cattle, and there was no +wagon-lit on the train from Madrid. I sat up all night, and played +cards with that young Cellini. Have Madame Zara and Kalonay returned? +I see the yacht in the harbor. Did she succeed?" + +"We do not know; the boat only arrived at daybreak. They are probably +on the launch that is coming in now." + +As Barrat sipped his coffee and munched his rolls with the silent +energy of a hungry man, the Colonel turned and strode up and down the +terrace, pulling at his mustache and glancing sideways. When the Baron +had lighted a cigarette and thrown himself back in his chair, Erhaupt +halted and surveyed him in some anxiety. + +"You have been gone over two weeks," he said. "I should like to see +you accomplish as much in as short a time," growled the other. "You +know Paris. You know how hard it is to get people to be serious there. +I had the devil's own time at first. You got my cablegram?" + +"Yes; it wasn't encouraging." + +"Well, I wasn't hopeful myself. They wouldn't believe a word of it at +first. They said Louis hadn't shown such great love for his country or +his people since his exile that they could feel any confidence in him, +and that his conduct in the last six years did not warrant their +joining any undertaking in which he was concerned. You can't blame +them. They've backed him so many times already, and they've been +bitten, and they're shy, naturally. But I swore he was repentant, that +he saw the error of his ways, that he wanted to sit once more before he +died on the throne of his ancestors, and that he felt it was due to his +son that he should make an effort to get him back his birthright. It +was the son won them. `Exhibit A' I call him. None of them would hear +of it until I spoke of the Prince. So when I saw that, I told them he +was a fine little chap, healthy and manly and brave, and devoted to his +priest, and all that rot, and they began to listen. At first they +wanted his Majesty to abdicate, and give the boy a clear road to the +crown, but of course I hushed that up. I told them we were acting +advisedly, that we had reason to know that the common people of Messina +were sick of the Republic, and wanted their King; that Louis loved the +common people like a father; that he would re-establish the Church in +all her power, and that Father Paul was working day and night for us, +and that the Vatican was behind us. Then I dealt out decorations and a +few titles, which Louis has made smell so confoundedly rank to Heaven +that nobody would take them. It was like a game. I played one noble +gentleman against another, and gave this one a portrait of the King one +day, and the other a miniature of `Exhibit A' the next and they grew +jealous, and met together, and talked it over, and finally unlocked +their pockets. They contributed about L9,000 between them. Then the +enthusiasm spread to the women, and they gave me their jewels, and a +lot of youngsters volunteered for the expedition, and six of them came +on with me in the train last night. I won two thousand francs from +that boy Cellini on the way down. They're all staying at the +Continental. I promised them an audience this morning." + +"Good," commented the Colonel, "good--L9,000. I suppose you took out +your commission in advance?" + +"I took out nothing," returned the other, angrily. "I brought it all +with me, and I have a letter from each of them stating just what he or +she subscribed toward the expedition,--the Duke Dantiz, so much; the +Duke D'Orvay, 50,000 francs; the Countess Mattini, a diamond necklace. +It is all quite regular. I played fair." The Colonel had stopped in +his walk, and had been peering eagerly down the leafy path through the +garden. "Is that not Zara coming now?" he asked. "Look, your eyes are +better than mine." + +Barrat rose quickly, and the two men walked forward, and bowed with +the easy courtesy of old comrades to a tall, fair girl who came +hurriedly up the steps. The Countess Zara was a young woman, but one +who had stood so long on guard against the world, that the strain had +told, and her eyes were hard and untrustful, so that she looked much +older than she really was. Her life was of two parts. There was +little to be told of the first part; she was an English girl who had +come from a manufacturing town to study art and live alone in Paris, +where she had been too indolent to work, and too brilliant to remain +long without companions eager for her society. Through them and the +stories of her wit and her beauty, she had come to know the King of +Messina, and with that meeting the second part of her life began; for +she had found something so attractive, either in his title or in the +cynical humor of the man himself, that for the last two years she had +followed his fortunes, and Miss Muriel Winter, art student, had become +the Countess Zara, and an uncrowned queen. She was beautiful, with +great masses of yellow hair and wonderful brown eyes. Her manner when +she spoke seemed to show that she despised the world and those in it +almost as thoroughly as she despised herself. + +On the morning of her return from Messina, she wore a blue serge +yachting suit with a golf cloak hanging from her shoulders, and as she +crossed the terrace she pulled nervously at her gloves and held out her +hand covered with jewels to each of the two men. + +"I bring good news," she said, with an excited laugh. "Where is Louis?" + +"I will tell his Majesty that you have come. You are most welcome," +the Baron answered. + +But as he turned to the door it opened from the inside and the king +came toward them, shivering and blinking his eyes in the bright +sunlight. It showed the wrinkles and creases around his mouth and the +blue veins under the mottled skin, and the tiny lines at the corners of +his little bloodshot eyes that marked the pace at which he had lived as +truthfully as the rings on a tree-trunk tell of its quiet growth. + +He caught up his long dressing-gown across his chest as though it were +a mantle, and with a quick glance to see that there were no other +witnesses to his deshabille, bent and kissed the woman's hand, and +taking it in his own stroked it gently. + +"My dear Marie," he lisped, "it is like heaven to have you back with us +again. We have felt your absence every hour. Pray be seated, and +pardon my robe. I saw you through the blinds and could not wait. Tell +us the glorious news. The Baron's good words I have already overheard; +I listened to them with great entertainment while I was dressing. I +hoped he would say something discourteous or foolish, but he was quite +discreet until he told Erhaupt that he had kept back none of the money. +Then I lost interest. Fiction is never so entertaining to me as the +truth and real people. But tell us now of your mission and of all you +did; and whether successful or not, be assured you are most welcome." + +The Countess Zara smiled at him doubtfully and crossed her hands in her +lap, glancing anxiously over her shoulder. + +"I must be very brief, for Kalonay and Father Paul are close behind +me," she said. "They only stopped for a moment at the custom-house. +Keep watch, Baron, and tell me when you see them coming." + +Barrat moved his chair so that it faced the garden-path, the King +crossed his legs comfortably and wrapped his padded dressing-robe +closer around his slight figure, and Erhaupt stood leaning on the back +of his chair with his eyes fixed on the fine insolent beauty of the +woman before them. + +She nodded her head toward the soldiers who sat at the entrance to the +terrace, as silent and immovable as blind beggars before a mosque. "Do +they understand?" she asked. + +"No," the King assured her. "They understand nothing, but that they +are to keep people away from me--and they do it very well. I wish I +could import them to Paris to help Niccolas fight off creditors. +Continue, we are most impatient." + +"We left here last Sunday night, as you know," she said. "We passed +Algiers the next morning and arrived off the island at mid-day, +anchoring outside in the harbor. We flew the Royal Yacht Squadron's +pennant, and an owner's private signal that we invented on the way +down. They sent me ashore in a boat, and Kalonay and Father Paul +continued on along the southern shore, where they have been making +speeches in all the coast-towns and exciting the people in favor of the +revolution. I heard of them often while I was at the capital, but not +from them. The President sent a company of carbineers to arrest them +the very night they returned and smuggled me on board the yacht again. +We put off as soon as I came over the side and sailed directly here. + +"As soon as I landed on Tuesday I went to the Hotel de Messina, and +sent my card to the President. He is that man Palaccio, the +hotel-keeper's son, the man you sent out of the country for writing +pamphlets against the monarchy, and who lived in Sicily during his +exile. He gave me an audience at once, and I told my story. As he +knew who I was, I explained that I had quarrelled with you, and that I +was now prepared to sell him the secrets of an expedition which you +were fitting out with the object of re-establishing yourself on the +throne. He wouldn't believe that there was any such expedition, and +said it was blackmail, and threatened to give me to the police if I did +not leave the island in twenty-four hours--he was exceedingly rude. So +I showed him receipts for ammunition and rifles and Maxim guns, and +copies of the oath of allegiance to the expedition, and papers of the +yacht, in which she was described as an armored cruiser, and he rapidly +grew polite, even humble, and I made him apologize first, and then take +me out to luncheon. That was the first day. The second day telegrams +began to come in from the coast-towns, saying that the Prince Kalonay +and Father Paul were preaching and exciting the people to rebellion, +and travelling from town to town in a man-of-war. Then he was +frightened. The Prince with his popularity in the south was alarming +enough, but the Prince and Father Superior to help him seemed to mean +the end of the Republic. + +"I learned while I was down there that the people think the father put +some sort of a ban on every one who had anything to do with driving the +Dominican monks out of the island and with the destruction of the +monasteries. I don't know whether he did or not, but they believe he +did, which is the same thing, and that superstitious little beast, the +President, certainly believed it; he attributed everything that had +gone wrong on the island to that cause. Why, if a second cousin of the +wife of a brother of one of the men who helped to fire a church falls +off his horse and breaks his leg they say that he is under the curse of +the Father Superior, and there are many who believe the Republic will +never succeed until Paul returns and the Church is re-established. The +Government seems to have kept itself well informed about your Majesty's +movements, and it has never felt any anxiety that you would attempt to +return, and it did not fear the Church party because it knew that +without you the priests could do nothing. But when Paul, whom the +common people look upon as a living saint and martyr, returned hand in +hand with your man Friday, they were in a panic and felt sure the end +had come. So the President called a hasty meeting of his Cabinet. And +such a Cabinet! I wish you could have seen them, Louis, with me in the +centre playing on them like an advocate before a jury. They were the +most dreadful men I ever met, bourgeois and stupid and ugly to a +degree. Two of them were commission-merchants, and one of them is old +Dr. Gustavanni, who kept the chemist's shop in the Piazza Royale. They +were quite silly with fear, and they begged me to tell them how they +could avert the fall of the Republic and prevent your landing. And I +said that it was entirely a question of money; that if we were paid +sufficiently the expedition would not land and we would leave them in +peace, but that----" + +The King shifted his legs uneasily, and coughed behind his thin, pink +fingers. + +"That was rather indiscreet, was it not, Marie?" he murmured. "The +idea was to make them think that I, at least, was sincere; was not that +it? To make it appear that though there were traitors in his camp, the +King was in most desperate earnest? If they believe that, you see, it +will allow me to raise another expedition as soon as the money we get +for this one is gone; but if you have let them know that I am the one +who is selling out, you have killed the goose that lays the golden +eggs. They will never believe us when we cry wolf again----" + +"You must let me finish," Zara interrupted. "I did not involve you in +the least. I said that there were traitors in the camp of whom I was +the envoy, and that if they would pay us 300,000 francs we would +promise to allow the expedition only to leave the yacht. Their troops +could then make a show of attacking our landing-party and we would +raise the cry of `treachery' and retreat to the boats. By this we +would accomplish two things,--we would satisfy those who, had +contributed funds toward the expedition that we had at least made an +honest effort, and your Majesty would be discouraged by such treachery +from ever attempting another attack. The money was to be paid two +weeks later in Paris, to me or to whoever brings this ring that I wear. +The plan we finally agreed upon is this: The yacht is to anchor off +Basnai next Thursday night. At high tide, which is just about +daybreak, we are to lower our boats and land our men on that long beach +to the south of the break-water. The troops of the Republic are to lie +hidden in the rocks until our men have formed. Then they are to fire +over their heads, and we are to retreat in great confusion, return to +the yacht, and sail away. Two weeks later they are to pay the money +into my hands, or," she added, with a smile, as she held up her fourth +finger, "to whoever brings this ring. And I need not say that the ring +will not leave my finger." + +There was a moment's pause, as though the men were waiting to learn if +she had more to tell, and then the King threw back his head and laughed +softly. He saw Erhaupt's face above his shoulder, filled with the +amazement and indignation of a man who as a duellist and as a soldier +had shown a certain brute courage, and the King laughed again. + +"What do you think of that, Colonel?" he cried, gayly. "They are a +noble race, my late subjects." + +"Bah!" exclaimed the German. "I didn't know we were dealing with a +home for old women." + +The Baron laughed comfortably. "It is like taking money from a blind +beggar's hat," he said. + +"Why, with two hundred men that I could pick up in London," Erhaupt +declared, contemptuously, "I would guarantee to put you on the throne +in a fortnight." + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed his Majesty. "So they surrendered as +quickly as that, did they?" he asked, nodding toward Madame Zara to +continue. + +The Countess glanced again over her shoulder and bit her lips in some +chagrin. Her eyes showed her disappointment. "It may seem an easy +victory to you," she said, consciously, "but I doubt, knowing all the +circumstances, if any of your Majesty's gentlemen could have served you +as well. It needed a woman and----" + +"It needed a beautiful woman," interrupted the King, quickly, in a tone +that he would have used to a spoiled child. "It needed a woman of +tact, a woman of courage, a woman among women--the Countess Zara. Do +not imagine, Marie, that we undervalue your part. It is their lack of +courage that distresses Colonel Erhaupt." + +"One of them, it is true, did wish to fight," the Countess continued, +with a smile; "a Frenchman named Renauld, whom they have put in charge +of the army. He scoffed at the whole expedition, but they told him +that a foreigner could not understand as they did the danger of the +popularity of the Prince Kolonay, who, by a speech or two among the +shepherds and fishermen, could raise an army." + +The King snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"An army of brigands and smugglers!" he exclaimed. "That for his +popularity!" But he instantly raised his hands as though in protest at +his own warmth of speech and in apology for his outbreak. + +"His zeal will ruin us in time. He is deucedly in the way," he +continued, in his usual tone of easy cynicism. "We should have let him +into our plans from the first, and then if he chose to take no part in +them we would at least have had a free hand. As it is now, we have +three different people to deceive: this Cabinet of shopkeepers, which +seems easy enough; Father Paul and his fanatics of the Church party; +and this apostle of the divine right of kings, Kalonay. And he and the +good father are not fools----" + +At these words Madame Zara glanced again toward the garden, and this +time with such evident uneasiness in her face that Barrat eyed her with +quick suspicion. + +"What is it?" he asked, sharply. "There is something you have not told +us." + +The woman looked at the King, and he nodded his head as though in +assent. "I had to tell them who else was in the plot besides myself," +she said, speaking rapidly. "I had to give them the name of some man +who they knew would be able to do what I have promised we could do--who +could put a stop to the revolution. The name I gave was +his--Kalonay's." + +Barrat threw himself forward in his chair. + +"Kalonay's?" he cried, incredulously. + +"Kalonay's?" echoed Erhaupt. "What madness, Madame! Why name the only +one who is sincere?" + +"She will explain," said the King, in an uneasy voice; "let her +explain. She has acted according to my orders and for the best, but I +confess I----" + +"Some one had to be sacrificed," returned the woman, boldly, "and why +not he? Indeed, if we wish to save ourselves, there is every reason +that it should be he. You know how mad he is for the King's return, +how he himself wishes to get back to the island and to his old position +there. Why, God only knows, but it is so. What pleasure he finds in a +land of mists and fogs, in a ruined castle with poachers and smuggling +fishermen for companions, I cannot comprehend. But the fact remains, +he always speaks of it as home and he wishes to return. And now, +suppose he learns the truth, as he may at any moment, and discovers +that the whole expedition for which he is staking his soul and life is +a trick, a farce; that we use it only as a bait to draw money from the +old nobility, and to frighten the Republic into paying us to leave them +in peace? How do we know what he might not do? He may tell the whole +of Europe. He may turn on you and expose you, and then what have we +left? It is your last chance. It is our last chance. We have tried +everything else, and we cannot show ourselves in Europe, at least not +without money in our hands. But by naming Kalonay I have managed it so +that we have only to show the written agreement I have made with the +Republic and he is silenced. In it they have promised to pay the +Prince Kalonay, naming him in full, 300,000 francs if the expedition is +withdrawn. That agreement is in my hands, and that is our answer to +whatever he may think or say. Our word is as good as his, or as bad; +we are all of the same party as far as Europe cares, and it becomes a +falling out among thieves, and we are equal." + +Baron Barrat leaned forward and marked each word with a movement of his +hand. + +"Do I understand you to say," he asked, "that you have a paper signed +by the Republic agreeing to pay 300,000 francs to Kalonay? Then how +are we to get it?" he demanded, incredulously. "From him?" + +"It is made payable to him," continued the woman, "or to whoever brings +this ring I wear to the banking-house of the Schlevingens two weeks +after the expedition has left the island. I explained that clause to +them by saying that Kalonay and I were working together against the +King, and as he might be suspicious if we were both to leave him so +soon after the failure of the expedition we would be satisfied if they +gave the money to whichever one first presented the ring. Suppose I +had said," she went on, turning to the King, "that it was either Barrat +or the Colonel here who had turned traitor. They know the Baron of +old, when he was Chamberlain and ran your roulette wheel at the palace. +They know he is not the man to turn back an expedition. And the +Colonel, if he will pardon me, has sold his services so often to one +side or another that it would have been difficult to make them believe +that this time he is sincere. But Kalonay, the man they fear most next +to your Majesty--to have him turn traitor, why, that was a master +stroke. Even those boors, stupid as they are, saw that. When they +made out the agreement they put down all his titles, and laughed as +they wrote them in. `Prince Judas' they called him, and they were in +ecstasies at the idea of the aristocrat suing for blood-money against +his sovereign, of the man they feared showing himself to be only a +common blackmailer. It delighted them to find a prince royal sunk +lower than themselves, this man who has treated them like curs--like +the curs they are," she broke out suddenly--"like the curs they are!" + +She rose and laughed uneasily as though at her own vehemence. + +"I am tired," she said, avoiding the King's eyes; "the trip has tired +me. If you will excuse me, I will go to my rooms--through your +hall-way, if I may." + +"Most certainly," said the King. "I trust you will be rested by +dinner-time. Au revoir, my fair ambassadrice." + +The woman nodded and smiled back at him brightly, and Louis continued +to look after her as she disappeared down the corridor. He rubbed the +back of his fingers across his lips, and thoughtfully examined his +finger-nails. + +"I wonder," he said, after a pause, looking up at Barrat. The Baron +raised his eyebrows with a glance of polite interrogation. + +"I wonder if Kalonay dared to make love to her on the way down." + +The Baron's face became as expressionless as a death-mask, and he +shrugged his shoulders in protest. + +"--Or did she make love to Kalonay?" the King insisted, laughing +gently. "I wonder now. I do not care to know, but I wonder." + +According to tradition the Kalonay family was an older one than that of +the House of Artois, and its name had always been the one next in +importance to that of the reigning house. The history of Messina +showed that different members of the Kalonay family had fought and died +for different kings of Artois, and had enjoyed their favor and shared +their reverses with equal dignity, and that they had stood like a +rampart when the kingdom was invaded by the levelling doctrines of +Republicanism and equality. And though the Kalonays were men of +stouter stuff than their cousins of Artois, they had never tried to +usurp their place, but had set an example to the humblest shepherd of +unfailing loyalty and good-will to the King and his lady. The Prince +Kalonay, who had accompanied the Dominican monk to Messina, was the +last of his race, and when Louis IV. had been driven off the island, he +had followed his sovereign into exile as a matter of course, and with +his customary good-humor. His estates, in consequence of this step, +had been taken up by the Republic, and Kalonay had accepted the loss +philosophically as the price one pays for loving a king. He found +exile easy to bear in Paris, and especially so as he had never +relinquished the idea that some day the King would return to his own +again. So firmly did he believe in this, and so keenly was his heart +set upon it, that Louis had never dared to let him know that for +himself exile in Paris and the Riviera was vastly to be preferred to +authority over a rocky island hung with fogs, and inhabited by dull +merchants and fierce banditti. + +The conduct of the King during their residence in Paris would have +tried the loyalty of one less gay and careless than Kalonay, for he was +a sorry monarch, and if the principle that "the King can do no wrong" +had not been bred in the young Prince's mind, he would have deserted +his sovereign in the early days of their exile. But as it was, he made +excuses for him to others and to himself, and served the King's idle +purposes so well that he gained for himself the name of the King's +jackal, and there were some who regarded him as little better than the +King's confidential blackguard, and man Friday, the weakest if the most +charming of his court of adventurers. + +At the first hint which the King gave of his desire to place himself +again in power, Kalonay had ceased to be his Jackal and would have +issued forth as a commander-in-chief, had the King permitted him; but +it was not to Louis's purpose that the Prince should know the real +object of the expedition, so he assigned its preparation to Erhaupt, +and despatched Kalonay to the south of the island. At the same time +Madame Zara had been sent to the north of the island, ostensibly to +sound the sentiment of the old nobility, but in reality to make capital +out of the presence there of Kalonay and Father Paul. + +The King rose hurriedly when the slim figure of the Prince and the +broad shoulders and tonsured head of the monk appeared at the farthest +end of the garden-walk. + +"They are coming!" he cried, with a guilty chuckle; "so I shall run +away and finish dressing. I leave you to receive the first shock of +Kalonay's enthusiasm alone. I confess he bores me. Remember, the +story Madame Zara told them in the yacht is the one she told us this +morning, that none of the old royalists at the capital would promise us +any assistance. Be careful now, and play your parts prettily. We are +all terribly in earnest." + +Kalonay's enthusiasm had not spent itself entirely before the King +returned. He had still a number of amusing stories to tell, and he +reviewed the adventures of the monk and himself with such vivacity and +humor that the King nodded his head in delight, and even the priest +smiled indulgently at the recollection. + +Kalonay had seated himself on one of the tables, with his feet on a +chair and with a cigarette burning between his fingers. He was a +handsome, dark young man of thirty, with the impulsive manner of a boy. +Dissipation had left no trace on his face, and his eyes were as +innocent of evil and as beautiful as a girl's, and as eloquent as his +tongue. "May the Maria Santissima pity the girls they look upon," his +old Spanish nurse used to say of them. But Kalonay had shown pity for +every one save himself. His training at an English public school, and +later as a soldier in the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris, had saved him +from a too early fall, and men liked him instinctively, and the women +much too well. + +"It was good to be back there again," he cried, with a happy sigh. "It +was good to see the clouds following each other across the old +mountains and throwing black shadows on the campagna, and to hear the +people's patois and to taste Messinian wine again and to know it was +from your own hillside. All our old keepers came down to the coast to +meet us, and told me about the stag-hunt the week before, and who was +married, and who was in jail, and who had been hanged for shooting a +customs officer, and they promised fine deer stalking if I get back +before the snow leaves the ridges, for they say the deer have not been +hunted and are running wild." He stopped and laughed. "I forgot," he +said, "your Majesty does not care for the rude pleasures of my half of +the island." Kalonay threw away his cigarette, clasping his hands +before him with a sudden change of manner. + +"But seriously," he cried, "as I have been telling them--I wish your +Majesty could have heard the offers they made us, and could have seen +the tears running down their faces when we assured them that you would +return. I wished a thousand times that we had brought you with us. +With you at our head we can sweep the island from one end to the other. +We will gather strength and force as we go, as a landslide grows, and +when we reach the capital we will strike it like a human avalanche. + +"And I wish you could have heard him speak," Kalonay cried, his +enthusiasm rising as he turned and pointed with his hand at the priest. +"There is the leader! He made my blood turn hot with his speeches, and +when he had finished I used to find myself standing on my tiptoes and +shouting with the rest. Without him I could have done nothing. They +knew me too well; but the laziest rascals in the village came to +welcome him again, and the women and men wept before him and brought +their children to be blessed, and fell on their knees and kissed his +sandals. It was like the stories they tell you when you are a child. +He made us sob with regret and he filled us with fresh resolves. Oh, +it is very well for you to smile, you old cynics," he cried, smiling at +his own fervor, "but I tell you, I have lived since I saw you last!" + +The priest stood silent with his hands hidden inside his great sleeves, +and his head rising erect and rigid from his cowl. The eyes of the men +were turned upon him curiously, and he glanced from one to the other, +as though mistrusting their sympathy. + +"It was not me--it was the Church they came to welcome. The fools," he +cried bitterly, "they thought they could destroy the faith of the +people by banishing the servants of the Church. As soon end a mother's +love for her children by putting an ocean between them. For six years +those peasants have been true. I left them faithful, I returned to +find them faithful. And now--" he concluded, looking steadily at the +King as though to hold him to account, "and now they are to have their +reward." + +The King bowed his head gravely in assent. "They are to have their +reward," he repeated. He rose and with a wave of his hand invited the +priest to follow him, and they walked together to the other end of the +terrace. When they were out of hearing of the others the King seated +himself, and the priest halted beside his chair. + +"I wish to speak with you, father," Louis said, "concerning this young +American girl, Miss Carson, who has promised to help us--to help +you--with her money. Has she said yet how much she means to give us," +asked the King, "and when she means to let us have it? It is a +delicate matter, and I do not wish to urge the lady, but we are really +greatly in need of money. Baron Barrat, who arrived from Paris this +morning, brings back no substantial aid, although the sympathy of the +old nobility, he assures me, is with us. Sympathy, however, does not +purchase Maxim guns, nor pay for rations, and Madame Zara's visit to +the capital was, as you know, even less successful." + +"Your Majesty has seen Miss Carson, then?" the priest asked. + +"Yes, her mother and she have been staying at the Continental ever +since they followed you here from Paris, and I have seen her once or +twice during your absence. The young lady seems an earnest daughter of +our faith, and she is deeply in sympathy with our effort to +re-establish your order and the influence of the Church upon the +island. I have explained to her that the only way in which the Church +can regain her footing there is through my return to the throne, and +Miss Carson has hinted that she is willing to make even a larger +contribution than the one she first mentioned. If she means to do +this, it would be well if she did it at once." + +"Perhaps I have misunderstood her," said the priest, after a moment's +consideration; "but I thought the sum she meant to contribute was to be +given only after the monarchy has been formally established, and that +she wished whatever she gave to be used exclusively in rebuilding the +churches and the monastery. I do not grudge it to your Majesty's +purpose, but so I understood her." + +"Ah, that is quite possible," returned Louis, easily; "it may be that +she did so intend at first, but since I have talked with her she has +shown a willing disposition to aid us not only later, but now. My +success means your success," he continued, smiling pleasantly as he +rose to his feet, "so I trust you will urge her to be prompt. She +seems to have unlimited resources in her own right. Do you happen to +know from whence her money comes?" + +"Her mother told me," said the priest, "that Mr. Carson before his +death owned mines and railroads. They live in California, near the +Mission of Saint Francis. I have written concerning them to the Father +Superior there, and he tells me that Mr. Carson died a very rich man, +and that he was a generous servant of the Church. His daughter has but +just inherited her father's fortune, and her one idea of using it is to +give it to the Church, as he would have done." + +The priest paused and seemed to consider what the King had just told +him. "I will speak with her," he said, "and ask her aid as fully as +she can give it. May I inquire how far your Majesty has taken her into +our plans?" + +"Miss Carson is fully informed," the King replied briefly. "And if you +wish to speak with her you can see her now; she and her mother are +coming to breakfast with me to hear the account of your visit to the +island. You can speak with her then--and, father," the King added, +lowering his eyes and fingering the loose sleeve of the priest's robe, +"it would be well, I think, to have this presentation of the young +nobles immediately after the luncheon, while Miss Carson is still +present. We might even make a little ceremony of it, and so show her +that she is fully in our confidence--that she is one of our most valued +supporters. It might perhaps quicken her interest in the cause." + +"I see no reason why that should not be," said the priest, +thoughtfully, turning his eyes to the sea below them. "Madame Zara," +he added, without moving his eyes, "will not be present." + +The King straightened himself slightly, and for a brief moment of time +looked at the priest in silence, but the monk continued to gaze +steadily at the blue waters. + +"Madame Zara will not be present," the King repeated, coldly. + +"There are a few fishermen and mountaineers, your Majesty," the priest +continued, turning an unconscious countenance to the King, "who came +back with us from the island. They come as a deputation to inform your +Majesty of the welcome that waits you, and I have promised them an +audience. If you will pardon me I would suggest that you receive these +honest people at the same time with the others, and that his Highness +the Crown Prince be also present, and that he receive them with you. +Their anxiety to see him is only second to their desire to speak to +your Majesty. You will find some of your most loyal subjects among +these men. Their forefathers have been faithful to your house and to +the Church for many generations." + +"Excellent," said the King; "I shall receive them immediately after the +deputation from Paris. Consult with Baron Barrat and Kalonay, please, +about the details. I wish either Kalonay or yourself to make the +presentation. I see Miss Carson and her mother coming. After +luncheon, then, at, say, three o'clock--will that be satisfactory?" + +"As your Majesty pleases," the priest answered, and with a bow he +strode across the terrace to where Kalonay stood watching them. + + + + +II + +Mrs. Carson and her daughter came from the hotel to the terrace through +the hallway which divided the King's apartments. Baron Barrat preceded +them and they followed in single file, Miss Carson walking first. It +was a position her mother always forced upon her, and after people grew +to know them they accepted it as illustrating Mrs. Carson's confidence +in her daughter's ability to care for herself, as well as her own wish +to remain in the background. + +Patricia Carson, as she was named after her patron saint, or "Patty" +Carson, as she was called more frequently, was an exceedingly pretty +girl. She was tall and fair, with a smile that showed such confidence +in everyone she met that few could find the courage to undeceive her by +being themselves, and it was easier, in the face of such an appeal as +her eyes made to the best in every one, for each to act a part while he +was with her. She was young, impressionable, and absolutely +inexperienced. As a little girl she had lived on a great ranch, where +she could gallop from sunrise to sunset over her own prairie land, and +later her life had been spent in a convent outside of Paris. She had +but two great emotions, her love for her father and for the Church +which had nursed her. Her father's death had sanctified him and given +him a place in her heart that her mother could not hold, and when she +found herself at twenty-one the mistress of a great fortune, her one +idea as to the disposal of it was to do with it what would best please +him and the Church which had been the ruling power in the life of both +of them. She was quite unconscious of her beauty, and her mode of +speaking was simple and eager. + +She halted as she came near the King, and resting her two hands on the +top of her lace parasol, nodded pleasantly to him and to the others. +She neither courtesied nor offered him her hand, but seemed to prefer +this middle course, leaving them to decide whether she acted as she did +from ignorance or from choice. + +As the King stepped forward to greet her mother, Miss Carson passed him +and moved on to where the Father Superior stood apart from the others, +talking earnestly with the Prince. What he was saying was of an +unwelcome nature, for Kalonay's face wore an expression of boredom and +polite protest which changed instantly to one of delight when he saw +Miss Carson. The girl hesitated and made a deep obeisance to the +priest. + +"I am afraid I interrupt you," she said. + +"Not at all," Kalonay assured her, laughing. "It is a most welcome +interruption. The good father has been finding fault with me, as +usual, and I am quite willing to change the subject." + +The priest smiled kindly on the girl, and while he exchanged some words +of welcome with her, Kalonay brought up one of the huge wicker chairs, +and she seated herself with her back to the others, facing the two men, +who stood leaning against the broad balustrade. They had been +fellow-conspirators sufficiently long for them to have grown to know +each other well, and the priest, so far from regarding her as an +intruder, hailed her at once as a probable ally, and endeavored to +begin again where he had ceased speaking. + +"Do you not agree with me, Miss Carson?" he asked. "I am telling the +Prince that zeal is not enough, and that high ideals, unless they are +accompanied by good conduct, are futile. I want him to change, to be +more sober, more strict----" + +"Oh, you must not ask me," Miss Carson said, hurriedly, smiling and +shaking her head. "We are working for only one thing, are we not? +Beyond that you know nothing of me, and I know nothing of you. I came +to hear of your visit," she continued; "am I to be told anything?" she +asked, eagerly, looking from one to the other. "It has been such an +anxious two weeks. We imagined all manner of things had happened to +you." + +Kalonay laughed happily. "The Father was probably never safer in his +life," he said. "They took us to their hearts like brothers. They +might have suffocated us with kindness, but we were in no other danger." + +"Then you are encouraged, Father?" she asked, turning to the priest. +"You found them loyal? Your visit was all you hoped, you can depend +upon them?" + +"We can count upon them absolutely," the monk assured her. "We shall +start on our return voyage at once, in a day, as soon as his Majesty +gives the word." + +"There are so many things I want to know," the girl said; "but I have +no right to ask," she added, looking up at him doubtfully. + +"You have every right," the monk answered. "You have certainly earned +it. Without the help you gave us we could not have moved. You have +been more than generous----" + +Miss Carson interrupted him with an impatient lifting of her head. +"That sort of generosity is nothing," she said. "With you men it is +different. You are all risking something. You are actually helping, +while I must sit still and wait. I hope, Father," she said, smiling, +"it is not wrong for me to wish I were a man." + +"Wrong!" exclaimed Kalonay, in a tone of mock dismay; "of course it's +wrong. It's wicked." + +The monk turned and looked coldly over his shoulder at Kalonay, and the +Prince laughed. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, "but we are told to be contented with our +lot," he argued, impenitently. "`He only is a slave who complains,' +and that is true even if a heretic did say it." + +The monk shook his head and turned again to Miss Carson with a tolerant +smile. + +"He is very young," he said, as though Kalonay did not hear him, "and +wild and foolish--and yet," he added, doubtfully, "I find I love the +boy." He regarded the young man with a kind but impersonal scrutiny, +as though he were a picture or a statue. "Sometimes I imagine he is +all I might have been," he said, "had not God given me the strength to +overcome myself. He has never denied himself in anything; he is as +wilful and capricious as a girl. He makes a noble friend, Miss Carson, +and a generous enemy; but he is spoiled irretrievably by good fortune +and good living and good health." The priest looked at the young man +with a certain sad severity. "`Unstable as water, thou shalt not +excel,'" he said. + +The girl, in great embarrassment, turned her head away, glancing from +the ocean to the sky; but Kalonay seated himself coolly on the broad +balustrade of the terrace with his hands on his hips, and his heels +resting on the marble tiling, and clicked the soles of his boots +together. + +"Oh, I have had my bad days, too, Father," he said. He turned his head +on one side, and pressed his lips together, looking down. + +"Unstable as water--that is quite possible," he said, with an air of +consideration; "but spoiled by good fortune--oh, no, that is not fair. +Do you call it good fortune, sir," he laughed, "to be an exile at +twenty-eight? Is it good fortune to be too poor to pay your debts, and +too lazy to work; to be the last of a great name, and to have no chance +to add to the glory of it, and no means to keep its dignity fresh and +secure? Do you fancy I like to see myself drifting farther and farther +away from the old standards and the old traditions; to have English +brewers and German Jew bankers taking the place I should have, buying +titles with their earnings and snubbing me because I can only hunt when +someone gives me a mount, and because I choose to take a purse instead +of a cup when we shoot at Monte Carlo?" + +"What child's talk is this?" interrupted the priest, angrily. "A +thousand horses cannot make a man noble, nor was poverty ever ignoble. +You talk like a weak boy. Every word you say is your own condemnation. +Why should you complain? Your bed is of your own making. The other +prodigal was forced to herd with the swine--you have chosen to herd +with them." + +The girl straightened herself and half rose from her chair. + +"You are boring Miss Carson with my delinquencies," said the Prince, +sternly. His face was flushed, and he did not look either at the girl +or at the priest. + +"But the prodigal's father?" said Miss Carson, smiling at the older +man. "Did he stand over him and upbraid him? You remember, he went to +meet him when he was yet a great way off. That was it, was it not, +Father?" + +"Of course he did," cried Kalonay, laughing like a boy, and slipping +lightly to the terrace. "He met him half way and gave him the best he +had." He stepped to Miss Carson's side and the two young people moved +away smiling, and the priest, seeing that they were about to escape +him, cried eagerly, "But that prodigal had repented. This one----" + +"Let's run," cried the Prince. "He will get the best of us if we stay. +He always gets the best of me. He has been abusing me that way for two +weeks now, and he is always sorry afterward. Let us leave him alone to +his sorrow and remorse." + +Kalonay walked across the terrace with Miss Carson, bending above her +with what would have seemed to an outsider almost a proprietary right. +She did not appear to notice it, but looked at him frankly and listened +to what he had to say with interest. He was speaking rapidly, and as +he spoke he glanced shyly at her as though seeking her approbation, and +not boldly, as he was accustomed to do when he talked with either men +or women. To look at her with admiration was such a cheap form of +appreciation, and one so distasteful to her, that had he known it, +Kalonay's averted eyes were more of a compliment than any words he +could have spoken. His companions who had seen him with other women +knew that his manner to her was not his usual manner, and that he gave +her something he did not give to the others; that he was more discreet +and less ready, and less at ease. + +The Prince Kalonay had first met Miss Carson and her mother by chance +in Paris, at the rooms of Father Paul, where they had each gone on the +same errand, and since that meeting his whole manner toward the two +worlds in which he lived had altered so strangely that mere +acquaintances noticed the change. + +Before he had met her, the little the priest had said concerning her +and her zeal for their common desire had piqued his curiosity, and his +imagination had been aroused by the picture of a romantic young woman +giving her fortune to save the souls of the people of Messina; his +people whom he regarded and who regarded him less as a feudal lord than +as a father and a comrade. He had pictured her as a nervous, angular +woman with a pale, ascetic face, and with the restless eyes of an +enthusiast, dressed in black and badly dressed, and with a severe and +narrow intelligence. But he had prepared himself to forgive her +personality, for the sake of the high and generous impulse that +inspired her. And when he was presented to her as she really was, and +found her young, lovable, and nobly fair, the shock of wonder and +delight had held him silent during the whole course of her interview +with the priest, and when she had left them his brain was in a tumult +and was filled with memories of her words and gestures, and of the +sweet fearlessness of her manner. Beautiful women he had known before +as beautiful women, but the saving grace in his nature had never before +been so deeply roused by what was fine as well as beautiful. It seemed +as though it were too complete and perfect. For he assured himself +that she possessed everything--those qualities which he had never +valued before because he believed them to be unattainable, and those +others which he had made his idols. She was with him, mind and heart +and soul, in the one desire of his life that he took seriously; she was +of his religion, she was more noble than his noble sisters, and she was +more beautiful than the day. In the first glow of the meeting it +seemed to him as though fate had called them to do this work +together,--she from the far shore of the Pacific, and he from his rocky +island in the Middle Sea. And he saw with cruel distinctness, that if +there were one thing wanting, it was himself. He worshipped her before +he had bowed his first good-by to her, and that night he walked for +miles up and down the long lengths of the avenue of the Champs-Elysees, +facing the great change that she had brought into his life, but knowing +himself to be utterly unfit for her coming. He felt like an unworthy +steward caught at his master's return unprepared, with ungirt loins, +and unlighted lamp. Nothing he had done since he was a child gave him +the right to consider himself her equal. He was not blinded by the +approaches which other daughters and the mothers of daughters had made +him. He knew that what was enough to excuse many things in their eyes +might find no apology in hers. He looked back with the awakening of a +child at the irrevocable acts in his life that could not be altered nor +dug up nor hidden away. They marked the road he had trodden like heavy +milestones, telling his story to every passer-by. She could read them, +as everyone else could read them. He had wasted his substance, he had +bartered his birthright for a moment's pleasure; there was no one so +low and despicable who could not call him comrade, to whom he had not +given himself without reserve. There was nothing left, and now the one +thing he had ever wanted had come, and had found him like a bankrupt, +his credit wasted and his coffers empty. He had placed himself at the +beck and call of every idle man and woman in Paris, and he was as +common as the great clock-face that hangs above the boulevards. + +Miss Carson's feelings toward Kalonay were not of her own choosing, and +had passed through several stages. When they had first met she had +thought it most sad that so careless and unprincipled a person should +chance to hold so important a part in the task she had set herself to +do. She knew his class only by hearsay, but she placed him in it, and, +accordingly, at once dismissed him as a person from her mind. Kalonay +had never shown her that he loved her, except by those signs which any +woman can read and which no man can conceal; but he did not make love +to her, and it was that which first prepossessed her in his favor. One +or two other men who knew of her fortune, and to whom she had given as +little encouragement as she had to Kalonay, had been less considerate. +But his attitude toward her was always that of a fellow-worker in the +common cause. He treated her with a gratitude for the help she meant +to give his people which much embarrassed her. His seriousness pleased +her with him, seeing, as she did, that it was not his nature to be +serious, and his enthusiasm and love for his half-civilized countrymen +increased her interest in them, and her liking for him. She could not +help but admire the way in which he accepted, without forcing her to +make it any plainer, the fact that he held no place in her thoughts. +And then she found that he began to hold more of a place in her +thoughts than she had supposed any man could hold of whom she knew so +little, and of whom the little she knew was so ill. She missed him +when she went to the priest's and found that he had not sent for +Kalonay to bear his part in their councils; and at times she felt an +unworthy wish to hear Kalonay speak the very words she had admired him +for keeping from her. And at last she learned the truth that she did +love him, and it frightened her, and made her miserable and happy. +They had not seen each other since he had left Paris for Messina, and +though they spoke now only of his mission to the island, there was back +of what they said the joy for each of them of being together again and +of finding that it meant so much. What it might mean to the other, +neither knew. + +For some little time the King followed the two young people with his +eyes, and then joined them, making signs to Kalonay that he wished him +to leave them together; but Kalonay remained blind to his signals, and +Barrat, seeing that it was not a tete-a-tete, joined them also. When +he did so Kalonay asked the King for a word, and laying his hand upon +his arm walked with him down the terrace, pointing ostensibly to where +the yacht lay in the harbor. Louis answered his pantomime with an +appropriate gesture, and then asked, sharply, "Well, what is it? Why +did you bring me here? And what do you mean by staying on when you see +you are not wanted?" + +They were some distance from the others. Kalonay smiled and made a +slight bow. "Your Majesty," he began, with polite emphasis. The King +looked at him curiously. + +"In the old days under similar circumstances," the Prince continued, +with the air of a courtier rather than that of an equal, "had I thought +of forming an alliance by marriage, I should have come to your Majesty +first and asked your gracious approval. But those days are past, and +we are living at the end of the century; and we do such things +differently." He straightened himself and returned the King's look of +amused interest with one as cynical as his own. "What I wanted to tell +you, Louis," he said, quietly, "is that I mean to ask Miss Carson to +become the Princess Kalonay." + +The King raised his head quickly and stared at the younger man with a +look of distaste and surprise. He gave an incredulous laugh. + +"Indeed?" he said at last. "There was always something about rich +women you could never resist." + +The Prince made his acknowledgment with a shrug of his shoulders and +smiled indifferently. + +"I didn't expect you to understand," he said. "It does seem odd; it's +quite as difficult for me to understand as for you. I have been +through it a great many times, and I thought I knew all there was of +it. But now it seems different. No, it does not seem different," he +corrected himself; "it is different, and I love the lady and I mean to +ask her to do me the honor to marry me. I didn't expect you to +understand, I don't care if you do. I only wanted to warn you." + +"Warn me?" interrupted the King, with an unpleasant smile. "Indeed! +against what? Your tone is a trifle peremptory--but you are +interesting, most interesting! Kalonay in a new role, Kalonay in love! +Most interesting! Warn me against what?" he repeated sharply. + +"Your Majesty has a certain manner," the Prince began, with a pretence +of hesitation, "a charm of manner, I might say, which is proverbial. +It is, we know, attractive to women. Every woman acknowledges it. But +your Majesty is sometimes too gracious. He permits himself to +condescend to many women, to any woman, to women of all classes----" + +"That will do," said the King; "what do you mean?" + +"What I mean is this," said Kalonay, lowering his voice and looking +into the King's half-closed eyes. "You can have all of Miss Carson's +money you want--all you can get. I don't want it. If I am to--marry +her at all, I am not marrying her for her money. You can't believe +that. It isn't essential that you should. But I want you to leave the +woman I hope to make my wife alone. I will allow no pretty speeches, +nor royal attentions. She can give her money where she pleases, now +and always; but I'll not have her eyes opened to--as you can open them. +I will not have her annoyed. And if she is----" + +"Ah, and if she is?" challenged the King. His eyes were wide apart now +and his lips were parted and drawn back from his teeth, like a snarling +cat---- + +"I shall hold whoever annoys her responsible," Kalonay concluded, +impersonally. + +There was a moment's pause, during which the two men stood regarding +each other warily. + +Then the King stiffened his shoulders and placed his hands slowly +behind his back. "That sounds, my dear Kalonay," he said, "almost like +a threat." + +The younger man laughed insolently. "I meant it, too, your Majesty," +he answered, bowing mockingly and backing away. + +As the King's guests seated themselves at his breakfast-table Louis +smiled upon them with a gracious glance of welcome and approval. His +manner was charmingly condescending, and in his appearance there was +nothing more serious than an anxiety for their better entertainment and +a certain animal satisfaction in the food upon his plate. + +In reality his eyes were distributing the people at the table before +him into elements favorable or unfavorable to his plans, and in his +mind he shuffled them and their values for him or against him as a +gambler arranges and rearranges the cards in his hand. He saw himself +plainly as his own highest card, and Barrat and Erhaupt as willing but +mediocre accomplices. In Father Paul and Kalonay he recognized his +most powerful allies or most dangerous foes. Miss Carson meant nothing +to him but a source from which he could draw the sinews of war. What +would become of her after the farce was ended, he did not consider. He +was not capable of comprehending either her or her motives, and had he +concerned himself about her at all, he would have probably thought that +she was more of a fool than the saint she pretended to be, and that she +had come to their assistance more because she wished to be near a +Prince and a King than because she cared for the souls of sixty +thousand peasants. That she would surely lose her money, and could +hardly hope to escape from them without losing her good name, did not +concern him. It was not his duty to look after the reputation of any +American heiress who thought she could afford to be unconventional. +She had a mother to do that for her, and she was pretty enough, he +concluded, to excuse many things,--so pretty that he wondered if he +might brave the Countess Zara and offer Miss Carson the attentions to +which Kalonay had made such arrogant objections. The King smiled at +the thought, and let his little eyes fall for a moment on the tall +figure of the girl with its crown of heavy golden hair, and on her +clever, earnest eyes. She was certainly worth waiting for, and in the +meanwhile she was virtually unprotected and surrounded by his own +people. According to his translation of her acts, she had already +offered him every encouragement, and had placed herself in a position +which to his understanding of the world could have but one +interpretation. What Kalonay's sudden infatuation might mean he could +not foresee; whether it promised good or threatened evil, he could only +guess, but he decided that the young man's unwonted show of +independence of the morning must be punished. His claim to exclusive +proprietorship in the young girl struck the King as amusing, but +impertinent. It would be easy sailing in spite of all, he decided; for +somewhere up above them in the hotel sat the unbidden guest, the woman +against whom Father Paul had raised the ban of expulsion, but who had, +nevertheless, tricked both him and the faithful Jackal. + +The breakfast was drawing to an end and the faithful Niccolas was the +only servant remaining in the room. The talk had grown intimate and +touched openly upon the successful visit of the two ambassadors to the +island, and of Barrat's mission to Paris. Of Madame Zara's visit to +the northern half of the island, which was supposed to have been less +successful, no mention was made. + +Louis felt as he listened to them like a man at a play, who knows that +at a word from him the complications would cease, and that were he to +rise in the stalls and explain them away, and point out the real hero +and denounce the villain, the curtain would have to ring down on the +instant. He gave a little purr of satisfaction, and again marshalled +his chances before him and smiled to find them good. He was grandly at +peace with himself and with the world. Whatever happened, he was +already richer by some 300,000 francs, and in a day, if he could keep +the American girl to her expedition had been played he would be +free,--free to return to his clubs and to his boulevards and boudoirs, +with money enough to silence the most insolent among his creditors, and +with renewed credit; with even a certain glamour about him of one who +had dared to do, even though he had failed in the doing, who had shaken +off the slothfulness of ease and had chosen to risk his life for his +throne with a smoking rifle in his hand, until a traitor had turned +fortune against him. + +The King was amused to find that this prospect pleased him vastly. He +was surprised to discover that, careless as he thought himself to be to +public opinion, he was still capable of caring for its approbation; but +he consoled himself for this weakness by arguing that it was only +because the approbation would be his by a trick that it pleased him to +think of. Perhaps some of his royal cousins, in the light of his bold +intent, might take him under their protection instead of neglecting him +shamefully, as they had done in the past. His armed expedition might +open certain doors to him; his name--and he smiled grimly as he +imagined it--would ring throughout Europe as the Soldier King, as the +modern disciple of the divine right of kings. He saw, in his mind's +eye, even the possibility of a royal alliance and a pension from one of +the great Powers. No matter where he looked he could see nothing but +gain to himself, more power for pleasure, more chances of greater +fortune in the future, and while his lips assented to what the others +said, and his eyes thanked them for some expression of loyalty or +confidence, he saw himself in dreams as bright as an absinthe +drinker's, back in his beloved Paris: in the Champs-Elysees behind fine +horses, lolling from a silk box at the opera, dealing baccarat at the +jockey Club, or playing host to some beautiful woman of the hour, in +the new home he would establish for her in the discreet and leafy +borders of the Bois. + +He had forgotten his guests and the moment. He had forgotten that +there were difficulties yet to overcome, and with a short, indrawn sigh +of pleasure, he threw back his head and smiled arrogantly upon the +sunny terrace and the green palms and the brilliant blue sea, as though +he challenged the whole beautiful world before him to do aught but +minister to his success and contribute to his pleasures. + +And at once, as though in answer to his challenge, a tall, slim young +man sprang lightly up the steps of the terrace, passed the bewildered +guards with a cheery nod, and, striding before the open windows, +knocked with his fist upon the portals of the door, as sharply and as +confidently as though the King's shield had hung there, and he had +struck it with a lance. + +The King's dream shattered and faded away at the sound, and he moved +uneasily in his chair. He had the gambler's superstitious regard for +trifles, and this invasion of his privacy by a confident stranger +filled him with sudden disquiet. + +He saw Kalonay staring at the open windows with an expression of +astonishment and dismay. + +"Who is it?" the King asked, peevishly. "What are you staring at? How +did he get in?" + +Kalonay turned on Barrat, sitting at his right. "Did you see him?" he +asked. Barrat nodded gloomily. + +"The devil!" exclaimed the Prince, as though Barrat had confirmed his +guess. "I beg your pardon," he said, nodding his head toward the +women. He pushed back his chair and stood irresolutely with his napkin +in his hand. "Tell him we are not in, Niccolas," he commanded. + +"He saw us as he passed the window," the Baron objected. + +"Say we are at breakfast then. I will see him myself in a moment. +What shall I tell him?" he asked, turning to Barrat. "Do you think he +knows? He must know, they have told him in Paris." + +"You are keeping us waiting," said the King. "What is it? Who is this +man?" + +"An American named Gordon. He is a correspondent," Kalonay answered, +without turning his head. His eyes were still fixed on the terrace as +though he had seen a ghost. + +The King slapped his hand on the arm of the chair. "You promised me," +he said, "that we should be free from that sort of thing. That is why +I agreed to come here instead of going to Algiers. Go out, Barrat, and +send him away." + +Barrat pressed his lips together and shook his head. + +"You can't send him away like that," he said. "He is a very important +young man." + +"Find out how much he will take, then," exclaimed the King, angrily, +"and give it to him. I can better afford to pay blackmail to any +amount than have my plans spoiled now by the newspapers. Give him what +he wants--a fur coat--they always wear fur coats--or five thousand +francs, or something--anything--but get rid of him." + +Barrat stirred uneasily in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. "He +is not a boulevard journalist," he replied, sulkily. + +"Your Majesty is thinking of the Hungarian Jews at Vienna," explained +Kalonay, "who live on chantage and the Monte Carlo propaganda fund. +This man is not in their class; he is not to be bought. I said he was +an American." + +"An American!" exclaimed Mrs. Carson and her daughter, exchanging rapid +glances. "Is it Archie Gordon you mean?" the girl asked. "I thought +he was in China." + +"That is the man--Archie Gordon. He writes books and explores places," +Kalonay answered. + +"I know him. He wrote a book on the slave trade in the Congo," +contributed Colonel Erhaupt. "I met him at Zanzibar. What does he +want with us?" + +"He was in Yokohama when the Japanese-Chinese war broke out," said +Kalonay, turning to the King, "and he cabled a London paper he would +follow the war for it if they paid him a hundred a week. He meant +American dollars, but they thought he meant pounds, so they cabled back +that they'd pay one-half that sum. He answered, `One hundred or +nothing,' and they finally assented to that, and he started; and when +the first week's remittance arrived, and he received five hundred +dollars instead of the one hundred he expected, he sent back the +difference." + +"What a remarkable young man!" exclaimed the King. "He is much too +good for daily wear. We don't want anyone like that around here, do +we?" + +"I know Mr. Gordon very well," said Miss Carson. "He lived in San +Francisco before he came East. He was always at our house, and was a +great friend of the family; wasn't he, mother? We haven't seen him for +two years now, but I know he wouldn't spoil our plans for the sake of +his paper, if he knew we were in earnest, if he understood that +everything depended upon its being kept a secret." + +"We are not certain that he knows anything," the King urged. "He may +not have come here to see us. I think Father Paul should talk with him +first." + +"I was going to suggest," said Miss Carson, with some hesitation, "that +if I spoke to him I might be able to put it to him in such a way that +he would see how necessary it----" + +"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed the King, eagerly, and rising to his feet; +"if you only would be so kind, Miss Carson." + +Kalonay, misunderstanding the situation altogether, fastened his eyes +upon the table and did not speak. + +"He has not come to see you, Patricia," said Mrs. Carson, quietly. + +"He does not know that I am here," Miss Carson answered; "but I'm sure +if he did he would be very glad to see us again. And if we do see him +we can make him promise not to do anything that might interfere with +our plans. Won't you let me speak to him, mother?" + +Mrs. Carson turned uncertainly to the priest for direction, and his +glance apparently reassured her, for she rose, though still with a +troubled countenance, and the two women left the room together, the men +standing regarding each other anxiously across the table. When they +had gone the King lit a cigarette and, turning his back on his +companions, puffed at it nervously in silence. Kalonay sat moodily +studying the pattern on the plate before him, and the others whispered +together at the farther end of the table. + +When Miss Carson and her mother stepped out upon the terrace, the +American was standing with his back toward them and was speaking to the +guards who sat cross-legged at the top of the steps. They showed no +sign of surprise at the fact of his addressing them in their own tongue +further than that they answered him with a show of respect which they +had not exhibited toward those they protected. The American turned as +he heard the footsteps behind him, and, after a startled look of +astonishment, hurried toward the two women, exclaiming, with every +expression of pleasure. + +"I had no idea you were stopping here," he said, after the first +greetings were over. "I thought you were somewhere on the Continent. +I am so glad I caught you. It seems centuries since I saw you last. +You're looking very well, Mrs. Carson--and as for Patty--I am almost +afraid of her--I've been hearing all sorts of things about you lately, +Patty," he went on, turning a smiling countenance toward the girl. +"About your engagements to princes and dukes--all sorts of disturbing +rumors. What a terrible swell you've grown to be. I hardly recognize +you at all, Mrs. Carson. It isn't possible this is the same young girl +I used to take buggy riding on Sunday evenings?" + +"Indeed, it is not. I wish it were," said Mrs. Carson, plaintively, +sinking into a chair. "I'm glad to see you're not changed, Archie," +she added, with a sigh. + +"Why, he's very much changed, mother," the girl said. "He's taller, +and, in comparison with what he was, he's almost wasted away, and so +sunburned I hardly knew him. Except round the forehead," she added, +mockingly, "and I suppose the sun couldn't burn there because of the +laurel-wreaths. I hear they bring them to you fresh every morning." + +"They're better than coronets, at any rate," Gordon answered, with a +nod. "They're not so common. And if I'm wasted away, can you wonder? +How long has it been since I saw you, Patty?" + +"No, I'm wrong, he's not changed," Miss Carson said dryly, as she +seated herself beside her mother. + +"How do you two come to be stopping here?" the young man asked. "I +thought this hotel had been turned over to King Louis?" + +"It has," Mrs. Carson answered. "We are staying at the Continental, on +the hill there. We are only here for breakfast. He asked us to +breakfast." + +"He?" repeated Gordon, with an incredulous smile. "Who? Not the +King--not that blackguard?" + +Miss Carson raised her head, and stared at him in silence, and her +mother gave a little gasp, apparently of relief and satisfaction. + +"Yes," Miss Carson answered at last, coldly. "We are breakfasting with +him. What do you know against him?" + +Gordon stared at her with such genuine astonishment that the girl +lowered her eyes, and, bending forward in her chair, twirled her +parasol nervously between her fingers. + +"What do I know against him? Why, Patty!" he exclaimed. "How did you +meet him, in Heaven's name?" he asked, roughly. "Have you been seen +with him? Have you known him long? Who had the impudence to present +him?" + +Mrs. Carson looked up, now thoroughly alarmed. Her lower lip was +trembling, and she twisted her gloved hands together in her lap. + +"What do you know against him?" Miss Carson repeated, meeting Gordon's +look with one as full of surprise as his own. + +The young man regarded her steadily for a few moments, and then, with a +change of manner, as though he now saw the situation was much more +serious than he had at first supposed, drew up a chair in front of the +two women and seated himself deliberately. + +"Has he borrowed any money from you yet?" he asked. Miss Carson's face +flushed crimson and she straightened her shoulders and turned her eyes +away from Gordon with every sign of indignation and disapproval. The +young man gave an exclamation of relief. + +"No? That's good. You cannot have known him so very long. I am +greatly relieved." + +"Louis of Messina," he began more gently, "is the most unscrupulous +rascal in Europe. Since they turned him out of his kingdom he has +lived by selling his title to men who are promoting new brands of +champagne or floating queer mining shares. The greater part of his +income is dependent on the generosity of the old nobility of Messina, +and when they don't pay him readily enough, he levies blackmail on +them. He owes money to every tailor and horse-dealer and hotel-keeper +in Europe, and no one who can tell one card from another will play with +him. That is his reputation. And to help him live up to it he has +surrounded himself with a parcel of adventurers as rascally as himself: +a Colonel Erhaupt who was dropped from a German regiment, and who is a +Colonel only by the favor of the Queen of Madagascar; a retired +croupier named Barrat; and a fallen angel called Kalonay, a fellow of +the very best blood in Europe and with the very worst morals. They +call him the King's jackal, and he is one of the most delightful +blackguards I ever met. So is the King for that matter, a most +entertaining individual if you keep him in his place, but a man no +woman can know. In fact, Mrs. Carson," Gordon went on, addressing +himself to the mother, "when you have to say that a woman has +absolutely no reputation whatever you can best express it by explaining +that she has a title from Louis of Messina. That is his Majesty's way +of treating his feminine friends when they bore him and he wants to get +rid of them. He gives them a title. + +"The only thing the man ever did that was to his credit and that could +be discussed in polite society is what he is doing now at this place, +at this moment. For it seems," Gordon whispered, drawing his chair +closer, "that he is about to show himself something of a man after all, +and that he is engaged in fitting out an armed expedition with which he +hopes to recover his kingdom. That's what brought me here, and I must +say I rather admire him for attempting such a thing. Of course, it was +Kalonay who put him up to it; he would never have stirred from the +boulevards if that young man had not made him. But he is here, +nevertheless, waiting for a favorable opportunity to sail, and he has +ten thousand rifles and three Maxim guns lying in his yacht out there +in the harbor. That's how I came to learn about it. I was getting an +estimate on an outfit I was thinking of taking into Yucatan from my old +gunsmith in the Rue Scribe, and he dropped a hint that he had shipped +ten thousand rifles to Tangier, to Colonel Erhaupt. I have met Erhaupt +in Zanzibar, and knew he was the King's right-hand man, so I put two +and two together and decided I would follow them up, and----" + +"Yes, and now," interrupted Miss Carson, sharply--"and now that you +have followed them up, what do you mean to do?" + +Gordon looked his surprise at her earnestness, but answered that he did +not know what he would do; he thought he would either ask them to give +him a commission in their expedition, and let him help them fight, and +write an account of their adventures later, or he would telegraph the +story at once to his paper. It was with him, he said, entirely a +question as to which course would be of the greater news value. If he +told what he now knew, his paper would be the first of all others to, +inform the world of the expedition and the proposed revolution; while +if he volunteered for the expedition and waited until it had failed or +succeeded, he would be able to tell more eventually, but would have to +share it with other correspondents. + +Miss Carson regarded him with an expression in which indignation and +entreaty were curiously blended. + +"Archie," she said, in a low voice, "you do not know what you are doing +or saying. You are threatening to spoil the one thing in my life on +which I have set my heart. The return of this man to his throne, +whether he is worthy or not, means the restoration of the Catholic +Church on that island; it means the return of the monks and the +rebuilding of the monasteries, and the salvation of sixty thousand +souls. I know all that they mean to do. I am the one who paid for +those rifles that brought you here; you have told me only what I have +known for months, and for which I have been earnestly working and +praying. I am not blinded by these men. They are not the creatures +you describe; but no matter what they may be, it is only through them, +and through them alone, that I can do what I have set out to do." + +Gordon silenced her with a sweep of his hand. "Do you mean to tell +me," he demanded, "that you are mixed up in this--with these--that they +have taken money from you, and told you they meant to use it to +re-establish the Church? Mrs. Carson," he exclaimed, bitterly, turning +upon her, "why have you allowed this--what have you been doing while +this was going on? Do you suppose those scoundrels care for the +Church--the Church, indeed! Wait until I see them--any of +them--Erhaupt by choice, and I'll make them give up every franc you've +lent them, or I'll horsewhip and expose them for the gang of welshers +and thimble-riggers they are; or if they prefer their own methods, I'll +call them out in rotation and shoot their arms and legs off." He +stopped and drew a long breath, either of content that he had +discovered the situation in time to take some part in it, or at the +prospect of a fight. + +"The idea of you two helpless females wandering into this den of +wolves!" he exclaimed, indignantly. "It's about time you had a man to +look after you! You go back to your hotel now, and let me have a chat +with Louis of Messina. He's kept me waiting some twenty minutes as it +is, and that's a little longer than I can give him. I'm not a +creditor." He rose from his chair; but Miss Carson put out her hand +and motioned him to be seated. + +"Archie," she said, "I like the way you take this, even though you are +all wrong about it, because it's just like you to fly into a passion +and want to fight someone for somebody. If your conclusions were +anywhere near the truth, you would be acting very well. But they are +not. The King is not handling my money, nor the Prince Kalonay. It is +in the keeping of Father Paul, the Father Superior of the Dominican +monks, who is the only one of these people I know or who knows me. He +is not a swindler, too, is he, or a retired croupier? Listen to me +now, and do not fly out like that at me, or at mother. It is not her +fault. Last summer mother and I went to Messina as tourists, and one +day, when passing through a seaport town, we saw a crowd of people on +the shore, standing or kneeling by the hundreds in a great semicircle +close to the water's edge. There was a priest preaching to them from +an open boat. It was like a scene from the New Testament, and the man, +this Father Paul, made me think of one of the disciples. I asked them +why he did not preach on the land, and they told me that he and all of +the priests had been banished from the island six years before, and +that they could only return by stealth and dared not land except by +night. When the priest had finished speaking, I had myself rowed out +to his boat, and I talked a long time with him, and he told me of this +plan to re-establish himself and his order. I offered to help him with +my money, and he promised me a letter to Cardinal Napoli. It reached +me on my return to Rome, and through the influence of the Cardinal I +was given an audience with the Pope, and I was encouraged to aid Father +Paul as far as I could. I had meant to build a memorial church for +father, but they urged me to give the money instead to this cause. All +my dealings until to-day have been with Father Paul alone. I have seen +a little of the Prince Kalonay because they are always together; but he +has always treated me in a way to which no one could take exception, +and he is certainly very much in earnest. When Father Paul left Paris +mother and I came on here in order to be near him, and that is how you +find me at Tangier. And now that you understand how much this means to +me, I know you will not do anything to stand in our way. Those men +inside are afraid that you came here for just the reason that +apparently has brought you, and when they saw you a little while ago +through the windows they were greatly disturbed. Let me tell them that +you mean to volunteer for the campaign. The King cannot refuse the +services of a man who has done the things you are always doing. And I +promise you that for a reward you shall be the only one to tell the +story of our attempt. I promise you," she repeated earnestly, "that +the day we enter the capital, you can cable whatever you please and +tell our story to the whole of Europe." + +"The story be hanged!" replied Gordon. "You have made this a much more +serious business than a newspaper story. You misunderstand me utterly, +Patty. I am here now because I am not going to have you compromised +and robbed." + +The girl stood up and looked down at the young man indignantly. + +"You have no right whatever to use that tone to me," she said. "I am +of age and my own adviser. I am acting for the good of a great number +of people, and according to what my conscience and common sense tell me +is right. I shall hate you if you attempt to interfere. You can do +one of two things, Archie. I give you your choice: you can either go +with them as a volunteer, and promise to keep our secret; or you can +cable what you know now, what you know only by accident, but if you do, +you will lose your best friend, and you will defeat a good and a noble +effort." + +Gordon leaned back in his chair, and looked up at her steadily for a +brief moment, and then rose with a smile, and bowed to the two women in +silence. He crossed the terrace quickly with an amused and puzzled +countenance, and walked into the breakfast-room, from the windows of +which, as he rightly guessed, the five conspirators had for some time +observed him. He looked from one to the other of the men about the +table, until his eyes finally met those of the King. + +"I believe, sir, you are leading an expedition against the Republic of +Messina?" Gordon said. "I am afraid it can't start unless you take me +with you." + + + + +III + +The presence in Tangier of the King of Messina and his suite, and the +arrival there of the French noblemen who had volunteered for the +expedition, could not escape the observation of the resident +Consuls-General and of the foreign colony, and dinners, riding and +hunting parties, pig-sticking, and excursions on horseback into the +outlying country were planned for their honor and daily entertainment. +Had the conspirators held aloof from these, the residents might have +asked, since it was not to enjoy themselves, what was the purpose of +their stay in Tangier; and so, to allay suspicion as to their real +object, different members of the expedition had been assigned from time +to time to represent the visitors at these festivities. On the morning +following the return of the yacht from Messina, an invitation to ride +to a farmhouse some miles out of Tangier and to breakfast there had +been sent to the visitors, and the King had directed the Prince +Kalonay, and half of the delegation from Paris, to accept it in his +name. + +They were well content to go, and rode forth gayly and in high spirits, +for the word had been brought them early in the morning that the +expedition was already prepared to move, and that same evening at +midnight the yacht would set sail for Messina. They were careless as +to what fortune waited for them there. The promise of much excitement, +of fighting and of danger, of possible honor and success, stirred the +hearts of the young men gloriously, and as they galloped across the +plains, or raced each other from point to point, or halted to jump +their ponies across the many gaping crevices which the sun had split in +the surface of the plain, they filled the still, warm air with their +shouts and laughter. In the party there were many ladies, and the +groups changed and formed again as they rode forward, spread out on +either side of the caravan-trail and covering the plain like a skirmish +line of cavalry. But Kalonay kept close at Miss Carson's stirrup, +whether she walked her pony or sent him flying across the hard, +sunbaked soil. + +"I hope you won't do that again," he said, earnestly, as she drew up +panting, with her sailor hat and hair falling to her shoulders. They +had been galloping recklessly over the open crevices in the soil. + +"It's quite the nastiest country I ever saw," he said. "It looks as +though an earthquake had shaken it open and had forgotten to close it +again. Believe me, it is most unsafe and dangerous. Your pony might +stumble--" He stopped, as though the possibilities were too serious for +words, but the girl laughed. + +"It's no more dangerous than riding across our prairie at dusk when you +can't see the barbed wire. You are the last person in the world to +find fault because a thing is dangerous," she added. + +They had reached the farm, where they went to breakfast, and the young +Englishman who was their host was receiving his guests in his garden, +and the servants were passing among them, carrying cool drinks and +powdered sweets and Turkish coffee. Kalonay gave their ponies to a +servant and pointed with his whip to an arbor that stood at one end of +the garden. + +"May we sit down there a moment until they call us?" he said. "I have +news of much importance--and I may not have another chance," he begged, +looking at her wistfully. The girl stood motionless; her eyes were +serious, and she measured the distance down the walk to the arbor as +though she saw it beset with dangers more actual than precipices and +twisted wire. The Prince watched her as though his fate was being +weighed in his presence. + +"Very well," she said at last, and moved on before him down the +garden-path. + +The arbor was open to the air with a low, broad roof of palm-leaves +that overhung it on all sides and left it in deep shadow. Around it +were many strange plants and flowers, some native to Morocco and some +transplanted from their English home. From where they sat they could +see the other guests moving in and out among the groves of orange and +olive trees and swaying palms, and standing, outlined against the blue +sky, upon the low, flat roof of the farm-house. + +"I have dared to ask you to be so good as to give me this moment," the +Prince said humbly, "only because I am going away, and it may be my +last chance to speak with you. You do not mind? You do not think I +presume?" + +"No, I do not mind," said the girl, smiling. "In my country we do not +think it a terrible offence to talk to a girl at a garden-party. But +you said there was something of importance you wanted to say to me. +You mean the expedition?" + +"Yes," said Kalonay. "We start this evening." The girl raised her +head slightly and stared past him at the burning white walls and the +burning blue sky that lay outside the circle of shadow in which they +sat. + +"This evening--" she repeated to herself. + +"We reach there in two days," Kalonay continued; "and then we--then we +go on--until we enter the capital." + +The girl's head was bent, and she looked at her hands as they lay in +her lap and frowned at them, they seemed so white and pretty and +useless. + +"Yes, you go on," she repeated, "and we stay here. You are a man and +able to go on. I know what that means. And you like it," she added, +with a glance of mingled admiration and fear. "You are glad to fight +and to risk death and to lead men on to kill other men." + +Kalonay drew lines in the sand with his ridingwhip, and did not raise +his head. + +"I suppose it is because you are fighting for your home," the girl +continued, "and to set your country free, and that you can live with +your own people again, and because it is a holy war. That must be it. +Now that it is really come, I see it all differently. I see things I +had not thought about before. They frighten me," she said. + +The Prince raised his head and faced the girl, clasping the end of his +whip nervously in his hand. "If we should win the island for the +King," he said, "I believe it will make a great change in me. I shall +be able to go freely then to my home, as you say, to live there always, +to give up the life I have led on the Continent. It has been a foolish +life--a dog's life--and I have no one to blame for it but myself. I +made it worse than it need to have been. But if we win, I have +promised myself that I will not return to it; and if we fall I shall +not return to it, for the reason that I shall have been killed. I +shall have much power if we win. When I say much power, I mean much +power in Messina, in that little corner of the world, and I wish to use +it worthily and well. I am afraid I should not have thought of it," he +went on, naively, as though he were trying to be quite fair, "had not +Father Paul pointed out to me what I should do, how I could raise the +people and stop the abuses which made them drive us from the island. +The people must be taxed less heavily, and the money must be spent for +them and not for us, on roads and harbors and schools, not at the +Palace on banquets and fetes. These are Father Paul's ideas, not +mine,--but now I make them mine." He rose and paced the length of the +little arbor, his hands clasped behind him and his eyes bent on the +ground. "Yes, that is what I mean to do," he said. "That is the way I +mean to live. And if we fail, I mean to be among those who are to die +on the fortifications of the capital, so that with me the Kalonay +family will end, and end fighting for the King, as many of my people +have done before me. There is no other way. For me there shall be no +more idleness nor exile. I must either live on to help my people, or I +must die with them." He stopped in his walk and regarded the girl +closely. "You may be thinking, it is easy for him to promise this, it +is easy to speak of what one will do. I know that. I know that I can +point back at nothing I have done that gives me any right to ask you to +believe me now. But I do ask it, for if you believe me--believe what I +say--it makes it easier for me to tell you why after this I must live +worthily. But you know why? You must know; it is not possible that +you do not know." + +He sat down beside her on the bench, leaning forward and crushing his +hands together on his knee. "It is because I love you. Because I love +you so that everything which is not worthy is hateful to me, myself +most of all. It is the only thing that counts. I used to think I knew +what love meant; I used to think love was a selfish thing that needed +love in return, that it must be fed on love to live, that it needed +vows and tender speeches and caresses, or it would die. I know now +that when one truly cares, he does not ask whether the other cares or +not. It is what one gives that counts, not what one receives. You +have given me nothing--nothing--not a word nor a look; yet since I have +known you I have been more madly happy in just knowing that you live +than I would have been had any other woman in all the world thrown +herself into my arms and said she loved me above all other men. I am +not fit to tell you this. But to-night I go to try myself, either +never to see you again, or to come back perhaps more worthy to love +you. Think of this when I am gone. Do not speak to me now. I may +have made you hate me for speaking so, or I may have made you pity me; +so let me go not knowing, just loving you, worshipping you, and holding +you apart and above all other people. I go to fight for you, do you +understand? Not for our Church, not for my people, but for you, to +live or die for you. And I ask nothing from you but that you will let +me love you always." + +The Prince bent, and catching up Miss Carson's riding-gloves that lay +beside her on the bench, kissed them again and again, and then, rising +quickly, walked out of the arbor into the white sunshine, and, without +turning, mounted his pony and galloped across the burning desert in the +direction of Tangier. + +Archie Gordon had not been invited to join the excursion into the +country, nor would he have accepted it, for he wished to be by himself +that he might review the situation and consider what lay before him. +He sat with his long legs dangling over the broad rampart which +overlooks the harbor of Tangier. He was whistling meditatively to +himself and beating an accompaniment to the tune with his heels. At +intervals he ceased whistling while he placed a cigar between his teeth +and pulled upon it thoughtfully, resuming his tune again at the point +where it had been interrupted. Below him the waves ran up lazily on +the level beach and sank again, dragging the long sea-weed with them, +as they swept against the sharp rocks, and exposed them for an instant, +naked and glistening in the sun. On either side of him the town +stretched to meet the low, white, sand-hills in a crescent of low, +white houses pierced by green minarets and royal palms. A warm sun had +sent the world to sleep at mid-day, and an enforced peace hung over the +glaring white town and the sparkling blue sea. Gordon blinked at the +glare, but his eyes showed no signs of drowsiness. They were, on the +contrary, awake to all that passed on the high road behind him, and on +the sandy beach at his feet, while at the same time his mind was busily +occupied in reviewing what had occurred the day before, and in +adjusting new conditions. At the hotel he had found that the situation +was becoming too complicated, and that it was impossible to feel sure +of the truth of anything, or of the sincerity of anyone. Since the +luncheon hour the day before he had become a fellow-conspirator with +men who were as objectionable to him in every way as he knew he was +obnoxious to them. But they had been forced to accept him because, so +they supposed, he had them at the mercy of his own pleasure. He knew +their secret, and in the legitimate pursuit of his profession he could, +if he chose, inform the island of Messina, with the rest of the world, +of their intention toward it, and bring their expedition to an end, +though he had chosen, as a reward for his silence, to become one of +themselves. Only the Countess Zara had guessed the truth, that it was +Gordon himself who was at their mercy, and that so long as the American +girl persisted in casting her fortunes with them her old young friend +was only too eager to make any arrangement with them that would keep +him at her side. + +It was a perplexing position, and Gordon turned it over and over in his +mind. Had it not been that Miss Carson had a part in it he would have +enjoyed the adventure, as an adventure, keenly. He had no objections +to fighting on the side of rascals, or against rascals. He objected to +them only in the calmer moments of private life; and as he was of +course ignorant that the expedition was only a make-believe, he felt a +certain respect for his fellow-conspirators as men who were willing to +stake their lives for a chance of better fortune. But that their +bravery was of the kind which would make them hesitate to rob and +deceive a helpless girl he very much doubted; for he knew that even the +bravest of warriors on their way to battle will requisition a herd of +cattle or stop to loot a temple. The day before, Gordon had witnessed +the brief ceremony which attended the presentation of the young +noblemen from Paris who had volunteered for the expedition in all good +faith, and he reviewed it and analyzed it as he sat smoking on the +ramparts. + +It had been an impressive ceremony, in spite of the fact that so few +had taken part in it, but the earnestness of the visitors and the +enthusiasm of Kalonay and the priest had made up for the lack of +numbers. The scene had appealed to him as one of the most dramatic he +had witnessed in the pursuit of a calling in which looking on at real +dramas was the most frequent duty, and he had enjoyed the strange +mixture of ancient terms of address and titles with the modern manners +of the men themselves. It had interested him to watch Baron Barrat +bring out the ancient crown and jewelled sceptre which had been the +regalia of all the Kings of Messina since the Crusades and spread them +out upon a wicker tea-table, from which Niccolas had just removed some +empty coffee-cups, half filled with the ends of cigarettes, some +yellow-backed novels, and a copy of the Paris Figaro. It was also +interesting to him to note how the sight of the little heir-apparent +affected both the peasants from the mountains and the young nobles from +the Club Royale. The former fell upon their knees with the tears +rolling down the furrows in their tanned cheeks, while the little +wise-eyed boy stood clinging to his nurse's skirts with one hand and to +his father's finger with the other, and nodded his head at them gravely +like a toy mandarin. + +Then the King had addressed them in a dignified, earnest, and almost +eloquent speech, and had promised much and prophesied the best of +fortunes, and then, at the last, had turned suddenly toward Miss +Carson, where she stood in the background between her mother and Father +Paul. + +"Every cause has its Joan of Arc, or its Maria Theresa," he cried, +looking steadfastly at Miss Carson. "No cause has succeeded without +some good woman to aid it. To help us, my friends, we have a daughter +of the people, as was Joan of Arc, and a queen, as was Maria Theresa, +for she comes from that country where every woman is a queen in her own +right, and where the love of liberty is inherent." The King took a +quick step backward, and taking Miss Carson's hand drew her forward +beside him and placed her facing his audience, while the girl made vain +efforts to withdraw her hand. "This is she," he said earnestly, "the +true daughter of the Church who has made it possible for us to return +to our own again. It is due to her that the King of Messina shall sit +once more on his throne; it is through her generosity alone that the +churches will rise from their ruins and that you will once again hear +the Angelus ring across the fields at sunset. Remember her, my friends +and cousins, pray for her as a saint upon earth, and fight gloriously +to help her to success!" + +Gordon had restrained himself with difficulty while this scene was +being enacted; he could not bear the thought of the King touching the +girl's hand. He struggled to prevent himself from crying out at the +false position into which he had dragged her; and yet there was +something so admirably sincere in the King's words, something so +courteous and manly, that it robbed his words of all the theatrical +effect they held, and his tribute to the girl filled even Gordon with +an emotion which on the part of the young nobles found expression in +cheer upon cheer. + +Gordon recalled these cheers and the looks of wondering admiration +which had been turned upon Miss Carson, and he grew so hot at the +recollection that he struck the wall beside him savagely with his +clinched fist, and damned the obstinacy of his young and beautiful +friend with a sincerity and vigor that was the highest expression of +his interest in her behalf. + +He threw his cigar into the rampart at his feet and dropped back into +the high road. It was deserted at the time, except for the presence of +a tall, slightly built stranger, who advanced toward him from the city +gates. The man was dressed in garments of European fashion and carried +himself like a soldier, and Gordon put him down at a glance as one of +the volunteers from Paris. The stranger was walking leisurely, +stopping to gaze at the feluccas in the bay, and then turning to look +up at the fortress on the hill. He seemed to have no purpose in his +walk except the interest of a tourist, and as he drew up even with +Gordon he raised his helmet politely and, greeting him in English, +asked if he were on the right road to the Bashaw's Palace. Gordon +pointed to where the white walls of the palace rose above the other +white walls about it. + +"That is it," he said. "All the roads lead to it. You keep going up +hill." + +"Thank you," said the stranger. "I see I have taken a long way." He +put his white umbrella in the sand, and, removing his helmet, mopped +his forehead with his handkerchief. "It is a curious old town, +Tangier," he said, affably, "but too many hills, is it not so? Algiers +I like better. There is more life." + +"Yes, Algiers is almost as good as the boulevards," Gordon assented, +"if you like the boulevards. I prefer this place because it is +unspoiled. But, as you say, there is not much to do here." + +The stranger's eyes fell upon the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which stood a +quarter of a mile away from them on the beach. + +"That is the Hotel Bretagne, is it not?" he asked. Gordon answered him +with a nod. + +"The King Louis of Messina, so the chasseur at the hotel tells me, is +stopping there en suite," the stranger added, with an interrogative air +of one who volunteers an interesting fact, and who asks if it is true +at the same moment. + +"I can't say, I'm sure," Gordon replied. "I only arrived here +yesterday." + +The stranger bowed his head in recognition of this piece of personal +information, and, putting on his helmet, picked up his umbrella as +though to continue his stroll. As he did so his eyes wandered over the +harbor and were arrested with apparent interest by the yacht, which lay +a conspicuous object on the blue water. He pointed at it with his +umbrella. + +"One of your English men-of-war is in the harbor, I see. She is very +pretty, but not large; not so large as many," he said. + +Gordon turned his head obligingly and gazed at the yacht with polite +interest. "Is that a man-of-war? I thought it was a yacht," he said. +"I'm not familiar with the English war-vessels. I am an American." + +"Ah, indeed!" commented the affable stranger. "I am French myself, but +I think she is a man-of-war. I saw her guns when I passed on the +steamer from Gibraltar." + +Gordon knew that the steamer did not pass within half a mile of where +the yacht lay at anchor, but he considered it might be possible to see +her decks with the aid of a glass. + +"You may be right," he answered, indifferently. As he turned his eyes +from the boat he saw a woman, dressed in white, and carrying a parasol, +leave the gardens of the Hotel Bretagne, and come toward them along the +beach. The Frenchman, following the direction of his eyes, saw her +also, and regarded her instantly with such evident concern that Gordon, +who had recognized her even at that distance as the Countess Zara, felt +assured that his inquisitor held, as he had already suspected, more +than a tourist's interest in Tangier. + +"Well, I will wish you a good-morning," said the Frenchman, hurriedly. + +"Good-morning," Gordon replied, and taking a cigar from his case, he +seated himself again upon the rampart. As he walked away the stranger +glanced back over his shoulder, but Gordon was apparently absorbed in +watching the waves below him, and had lost all interest in his chance +acquaintance. But he watched both the woman and the Frenchman as they +advanced slowly from opposite directions and drew nearer together, and +he was not altogether surprised, when the in man was within twenty feet +of her, to see her start and stand still, and then, with the indecision +of a hunted animal, move uncertainly, and then turn and run in the +direction of the hotel. Something the man apparently called after her +caused her to stop, and Gordon observed them now with undisguised +interest as they stood conversing together, oblivious of the +conspicuous mark they made on the broad white beach under the brilliant +sun. + +"I wonder what he's up to now?" Gordon mused. "He was trying to pump +me, that's evident, and he certainly recognized the lady, and she +apparently did not want to recognize him. I wonder if he is a rejected +lover, or another conspirator. This is a most amusing place, nothing +but plots and counterplots and--Hello!" he exclaimed aloud. The man +had moved quickly past Madame Zara, and had started toward the hotel, +and Zara had held out her hand to him, as though to entreat him to +remain. But he did not stop, and she had taken a few uncertain steps +after him, and had then, much to the American's dismay, fallen limply +on her back on the soft sand. She was not a hundred yards distant from +where he sat, and in an instant he had slipped from the wall, and +dropped on his hands and knees on the beach below. When Gordon reached +her the Frenchman had returned, and was supporting her head on his knee +and covering her head with her parasol. + +"The lady has fainted!" he exclaimed, eagerly. His manner was no +longer one of idle indolence. He was wide awake now and visibly +excited. + +"The sun has been too much for her," he said. "It is most dangerous +walking about at this time of day." + +Gordon ran down the beach and scooped up some water in his helmet, and +dipping his handkerchief in it bathed her temples and cheek. He had +time to note that she was a very beautiful girl, and the pallor of her +face gave it a touch of gentleness that he had not seen there before. + +"I will go to the hotel and bring assistance, said the stranger, +uneasily, as the woman showed signs of regaining consciousness. + +"No," said Gordon, "you'll stay where you are and shade her with her +umbrella. She'll be all right in a minute." + +The girl opened her eyes, and looking up saw Gordon bending over her. +She regarded him for a moment and made an effort to rise, and in her +endeavor to do so her eyes met those of the Frenchman, and with a sharp +moan she shut them again and threw herself from Gordon's knee to the +sand. + +"Give me that umbrella," said Gordon, "and go stand over there out of +the way." + +The man rose from his knee without showing any resentment and walked +some little distance away, where he stood with his arms folded, looking +out to sea. He seemed much too occupied with something of personal +interest to concern himself with a woman's fainting-spell. The girl +lifted herself slowly to her elbow, and then, before Gordon could +assist her, rose with a quick, graceful movement and stood erect upon +her feet. She placed a detaining hand for an instant on the American's +arm. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "I am afraid I have been imprudent in +going out into the sun." Her eyes were fixed upon the Frenchman, who +stood moodily staring at the sea and tearing one of his finger-nails +with his teeth. He seemed utterly oblivious of their presence. The +girl held out her hand for the parasol she had dropped and took it from +Gordon with a bow. + +"May I walk back with you to your hotel?" he asked. "Unless this +gentleman----" + +"Thank you," the girl said, in tones which the Frenchman could have +easily overheard had he been listening. "I am quite able to go alone +now; it is only a step." + +She was still regarding the Frenchman closely; but as he was obviously +unconscious of them she moved so that Gordon hid her from him, and in +an entirely different voice she said, speaking rapidly,-- + +"You are Mr. Gordon, the American who joined us last night. That man +is a spy from Messina. He is Renauld, the Commander-in-Chief of their +army. He must be gotten away from here at once. It is a matter for a +man to attend to. Will you do it?" + +"How do you know this?" Gordon asked. "How do you know he is General +Renauld? I want to be certain." + +The girl tossed her head impatiently. + +"He was pointed out to me at Messina. I saw him there in command at a +review. He has just spoken to me--that was what frightened me into +that fainting-spell. I didn't think I was so weak," she said, shaking +her head. "He offered me a bribe to inform him of our plans. I tell +you he is a spy." + +"That's all right," said Gordon, reassuringly; "you go back to the +hotel now and send those guards here on a run. I'll make a charge +against him and have him locked up until after we sail to-night. +Hurry, please; I'll stay here." + +Gordon felt a pleasurable glow of excitement. It was his nature to +throw himself into everything he did and to at once become a partisan. +It was a quality which made his writings attractive to the reader, and +an object of concern to his editor. At the very word "spy," and at +this first hint of opposition to the cause in which he had but just +enlisted, he thrilled as though it had always been his own, and he +regarded the Frenchman with a personal dislike as sudden as it was +unfounded. + +The Frenchman had turned and was walking in the direction of the city +gate. His eyes were bent on the sandy beach which stretched before +him, and he made his way utterly unmindful of the waves that stole up +to his feet and left little pools of water in his path. Gordon +beckoned impatiently to the two soldiers who came running toward him at +the hotel, and moved forward to meet them the sooner. He took one of +them by the wrist and pointed with his other hand at the retreating +figure of the Frenchman. + +"That man," he said, "is one of the King's enemies. The King is in +danger while that man is here. Your duty is to protect the King, so he +gives this foreigner into your charge." + +The soldier nodded his head in assent. "The King himself sent us," he +replied. + +"You will place him in the Civil Prison," Gordon continued, "until the +King is safe on his yacht, and you will not allow him to send for the +French Consul-General. If he sees the Consul-General he will tell him +a great many lies about you, and a great war-ship will come and your +Bashaw will be forced to pay the foreigners much money. I will go with +you and tell this man in his own tongue what you are going to do with +him." + +They walked hurriedly after the Frenchman, and when they had overtaken +him Gordon halted and bowed. + +"One moment, please," he said. "These soldiers have an order for your +arrest. I speak the language, and if you have anything to say to them +I will interpret for you." + +The Frenchman stared from Gordon to the guards and then laughed +incredulously but with no great confidence. He had much to say, but he +demanded to know first why he should be arrested. + +"The lady you insulted," Gordon answered, gravely, "happened, +unfortunately for you, to be one of the King's guests. She has +complained to him, and he has sent these soldiers to put you where you +cannot trouble her again. You see, sir, you cannot annoy women with +impunity even in this barbarous country." + +"Insult her! I did not insult her," the man retorted. "That is not +the reason I am arrested." + +"You annoyed her so much that she fainted. I saw you," said Gordon, +backing away with the evident purpose of abandoning the foreigner to +his guards. + +"She has lied," the man cried, "either to the King or to me. I do not +know which, but I am here to find out. That is why I came to Tangier, +and I intend to learn the truth." + +"You've begun rather badly," Gordon answered, as he still retreated. +"In the Civil Prison your field of investigation will be limited." + +The Frenchman took a hasty step toward him, shrugging off the hand one +of the soldiers had placed on his shoulder. + +"Are you the Prince Kalonay, sir?" he demanded. "But surely not," he +added. + +"No, I am not the Prince," Gordon answered. "I bid you good-morning, +sir." + +"Then you are on the other side," the man called after him eagerly, +with a tone of great relief. "I have been right from the very first. +I see it plainly. It is a double plot, and you are one of that woman's +dupes. Listen to me--I beg of you, listen to me--I have a story to +tell." + +Gordon paused and looked back at the man over his shoulder, doubtfully. + +"It's like the Arabian Nights," he said, with a puzzled smile. "There +was once a rich merchant of Bagdad and the Sultan was going to execute +him, but they put off the execution until he could tell them the story +of the Beautiful Countess and the French Envoy. I am sorry," he added, +shaking his head, "but I cannot listen now. I must not be seen talking +to you at all, and everyone can see us here." + +They were as conspicuous figures on the flat surface of the beach as +two palms in a desert, and Gordon was most anxious to escape, for he +was conscious that he could be observed from every point in the town. +A hundred yards away, on the terrace of the hotel, he saw the King, +Madame Zara, Barrat, and Erhaupt standing together watching them. + +"If the American leaves him now, we are safe," the King was saying. He +spoke in a whisper, as though he feared that even at that distance +Gordon and the Frenchman could overhear his words. "But if he remains +with him he will find out the truth, and that means ruin. He will ruin +us." + +"Look, he is coming this way," Zara answered. "He is leaving him. The +danger is past." + +The Frenchman raised his eyes and saw the four figures grouped closely +together on the terrace. + +"See, what did I tell you?" he cried. "She is with the King now. It +is a plot within a plot, and I believe you know it," he added, +furiously. "You are one of these brave blackmailers yourself--that is +why you will not let me speak." + +"Blackmailers!" said Gordon. "Confound your impudence, what the +devil do you mean by that?" + +But the Frenchman was staring angrily at the distant group on the +terrace, and Gordon turned his eyes in the same direction. Something +he saw in the strained and eager attitude of the four conspirators +moved him to a sudden determination. + +"That will do, you must go," he commanded, pointing with his arm toward +the city gate; and before the Frenchman could reply, he gave an order +to the guards, and they seized the foreigner roughly by either arm and +hurried him away. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the King, piously. "They have separated, and +the boy thinks he is rendering us great service. Well, and so he is, +the young fool." + +The group on the piazza remained motionless, watching Gordon as he +leisurely lit a cigar and stood looking out at the harbor until the +Frenchman had disappeared inside the city wall. Then he turned and +walked slowly after him. + +"I do not like that. I do not like his following him," said Barrat, +suspiciously. + +"That is nothing," answered the King. "He is going to play the spy and +see that the man is safely in jail. Then he will return and report to +us. We must congratulate him warmly. He follows at a discreet +distance, you observe, and keeps himself well out of sight. The boy +knows better than to compromise himself by being seen in conversation +with the man. Of course, if Renauld is set free we must say we had no +part in his arrest, that the American made the arrest on his own +authority. What a convenient tool the young man is. Why, his coming +really frightened us at first, and now--now we make a cat's-paw of +him." The King laughed merrily. "We undervalue ourselves sometimes, do +we not?" + +"He is a nice boy," said Zara. "I feel rather sorry for him. He +looked so anxious and distressed when I was so silly as to faint on the +beach just now. He handled me as tenderly as a woman would have +done--not that women have generally handled me tenderly," she added. + +"I was thinking the simile was rather misplaced," said the King. + + +Gordon passed the city wall and heard the gates swing to behind him. +The Frenchman and his two captors were just ahead, toiling heavily up +the steep and narrow street. Gordon threw his cigar from him and ran +leaping over the huge cobbles to the Frenchman's side and touched him +on the shoulder. + +"We are out of sight of the hotel, now, General," he said. He pointed +to the dark, cool recesses of a coffee-shop and held back the rug that +hung before it. "Come in here," he said, "and tell me that story." + + + + +IV + +Baron Barrat was suspicious by education--his experience of life and +his own conduct had tended to render him so; and accordingly when, +three hours after he had seen Gordon apparently commit the French +officer to jail, he found them leaving a cafe in the most friendly and +amicable spirit, he wasted no time in investigation, but hurried at +once to warn the King. + +"What we feared would happen, has happened," he said. "The Frenchman +has told Gordon that Zara and Kalonay sold the secret of the +expedition, and Gordon will be coming here to warn you of it. Now, +what are you going to do? We must act quickly." + +"I shall refuse to believe the Frenchman, of course," said the King. +"I shall ask Zara in his presence to answer his charges, and she will +tell him he lies. That is all there will be of it. What does it +matter what he says? We sail at midnight. We can keep him quiet until +then." + +"If he is troublesome I can call for help from this room, and the +servants of the hotel and the guards will rush in and find us +struggling together. We will charge him with an attempt at +assassination, and this time he surely will go to jail. By to-morrow +morning we shall be many miles at sea." + +"But he can cable to Messina, by way of Gibraltar, and head us off," +objected Barrat. + +"What can he cable?" demanded the King. "Nothing the people of the +Republic do not already know. It is our friends here that must not +find us out. That is the main thing. Thank Heaven!" he exclaimed, +"Kalonay and Paul are out of the way, and those crazy boys from Paris. +We will settle it here among ourselves in five minutes." + +"And the American?" asked Zara. "He knows, he will come with him. +Suppose he believes, suppose he believes that Kalonay and I have sold +you out, but suspects that you know it?" + +"The American can go to the devil," said the King. "Confound him and +his insolence. I'll have him in the prison too, if he interferes. Or +Erhaupt can pick a quarrel with him here and fight it out behind the +sand-hills before the others get back from their picnic. He has done +as much for me before." + +Zara stood up. She was trembling slightly, and she glanced fearfully +from Erhaupt to the King. + +"You will not do that," she said. + +"And why not, madame?" demanded Louis. + +"Because it will be murder," Zara whispered. "He will murder him as he +did that boy in the Park at Pesth." + +"What does the woman mean?" growled the German. "Is she mad? Send her +to her room, Louis." + +"You know what I mean," Zara answered, her voice rising, in her +excitement. "You fired before they gave the word. I know you did. +Oh, Louis," she cried, "you never warned me it might come to this. I +am afraid. I am afraid to meet that man----" + +She gave a sudden cry. "And Kalonay!" She held out her hands +appealingly. "Indeed," she cried, "do not let Kalonay question me." + +"Silence!" commanded the King. "You are acting like a fool." He +advanced toward her, and clasped her wrist firmly in his hand. "No +nerves, now," he said. "I'll not have it. You shall meet Kalonay, and +you shall swear that he is in the plot against me. If you fail us now, +we are ruined. As it is, we are sure to lose the bribe from the +Republic, but we may still get Miss Carson's money if you play your +part. It is your word and the word of the Frenchman against Kalonay's. +And we have the paper signed by you for Kalonay as evidence. Have you +got it with you?" + +Zara bowed her head. "It is always with me," she answered. + +"Good," said the King. "It will be a difficult chance, but if you +stand to your story, and we pretend to believe you, the others may +believe you, too." + +"But I cannot," Zara cried. "I know I cannot. I tell you if you put +me face to face with Kalonay, I shall fail you. I shall break down. +They will see that I am lying. Send me away. Send me away before they +come. Tell them I saw the Frenchman, and suspected I had been found +out, and that I have gone away. Tell them you don't know where I am." + +"I believe she's right," Erhaupt said. "She will do us more harm than +good. Let her go to her room and wait there." + +"She will remain where she is," said the King, sternly. "And she will +keep her courage and her wits about her, or----" + +He was interrupted by an exclamation from Barrat. "Whatever you mean +to do, you must do it at once," he said, grimly. He was standing at +the window which overlooked the beach. "Here they come now," he +continued. "The American has taken no chances, he is bringing an +audience with him." + +The King and Erhaupt ran to the window, and peered over Barrat's +shoulder. + +Advancing toward them along the beach, some on foot, and some on +horseback, were all the members of the expedition, those who had been +of the riding-party and those who had remained in Tangier. Gordon and +the Frenchman Renauld were far in the lead, walking by themselves and +speaking earnestly together; Father Paul was walking with Mrs. Carson +and her daughter, and Kalonay was riding with two of the volunteers, +the Count de Rouen and Prince Henri of Poitiers. + +When the King and Erhaupt turned from the window the Countess Zara had +disappeared. "It is better so," said Erhaupt; "she was so badly +frightened she would have told the truth." + +The King stood leaning on the back of a large arm-chair. "Well, the +moment has come, it is our last chance," he said. "Send for the Crown +Prince, Baron. I shall be discovered in the act of taking a tender +farewell of my son." + +Barrat made an eager gesture of dissent. + +"I would not do that," he cried. "If we are to make charges against +the jackal do not have the boy present; the boy must not hear them. +You know how Kalonay worships the child, and it would enrage him more +to be exposed before the Prince than before all the rest of the world. +He will be hard enough to handle without that. Don't try him too far." + +"You are absurd, Barrat," exclaimed the King. "The boy won't +understand what is said." + +"No, but the Jackal will," Barrat returned. "You don't understand him, +Louis, he is like a woman; he has sentiment and feelings, and when we +all turn on him he will act like a madman. Keep the boy out of his +sight, I tell you. It's the only thing he cares for in the world. He +has been a better father to him than you ever have been." + +"That was quite natural; that was because it was his duty," said the +King, calmly. "A Kalonay has always been the protector and tutor of +the heir-apparent. If this one chooses to give his heart with his +service, that is not my concern. Why, confound them, they all think +more of the child than they do of me. That is why I need him by me +now." + +Barrat shook his head. "I tell you it will make trouble," he +persisted. "Kalonay will not stand it. He and the child are more like +comrades than a tutor and his pupil. Why, Kalonay would rather sit +with the boy in the Champs-Elysees and point out the people as they go +by than drive at the side of the prettiest woman in Paris. He always +treats him as though he saw the invisible crown upon his head; he will +throw over any of us to stay in the nursery and play tin soldiers with +him. And when he was ill--" Barrat nodded his head significantly. +"You remember." + +"That will do," said the King. "We have no time to consider the finer +feelings of the jackal; he is to be sacrificed, and that is all there +is of it. The presence of the child may make him more unmanageable, +but it will certainly make it easier for me. So go, bring the boy here +as I bid you." + +Barrat left the room and returned immediately, followed by the Crown +Prince and his nurse. The Prince was a dark, handsome little fellow of +four years. His mother had died when he was born, and he had never +played with children of his own age, and his face was absurdly wise and +wistful; but it lighted with a sweet and grateful smile when anyone +showed him kindness or sought to arouse his interest. To the Crown +Prince Kalonay was an awful and wonderful being. He was the one person +who could make him laugh out of pure happiness and for no reason, as a +child should laugh. And people who had seen them together asked which +of the princes was the older of the two. When the child entered the +room, clinging to Barrat's finger, he carried in his other hand a +wooden spade and bucket, still damp with sand, and he was dressed in a +shabby blue sailor suit which left his little legs bare, and exposed +the scratches and bruises of many falls. A few moments later, when the +conspirators entered the King's salon, preceded by Erhaupt, they found +the boy standing by his father's knee. The King had his hand upon the +child's head, and had been interrupted apparently in a discourse on the +dignity of kingship, for the royal crown of Messina had been brought +out and stood beside him on the table, and his other hand rested on it +reverently. It was an effective tableau, and the visitors observed it +with varying emotions, but with silence. + +The King rose, taking his son's hand in his, and bowed, looking +inquiringly from Barrat to the Prince Kalonay. + +"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked. "Was it +discreet of you to come together in this way? But you are most +welcome. Place chairs for the ladies, Barrat." + +Kalonay glanced at the others, and they nodded to him as though to make +him their spokesman. He pointed at Gordon with his cap. + +"We are here on the invitation of this gentleman, your Majesty," he +said. "He took it upon himself to send after those of us who had gone +into the country, and came in person for the others who remained in +town. He tells us he has news of the greatest importance to +communicate, which he cannot disclose except to you, and in the +presence of all of those who are to take part in the expedition. We +decided to accompany him here, as he asked us, and to leave it to your +Majesty to say whether or not you wished us to remain." Kalonay smiled +in apology at the King, and the King answered him with a smile. + +"The procedure is perhaps unconventional," the King said, "but in +America they move quickly. No doubt our young companion has acted as +he thought was for the best. If he has taken a liberty, the nature of +his news will probably excuse him. Perhaps, Mr. Gordon," he added, +turning to the American, "you had better first tell me what this +discovery is, and I will decide whether it is best to discuss it in +open council." + +Gordon did not appear to be the least disturbed by the criticism +Kalonay and the King had passed upon his conduct. He only smiled +pleasantly when the King had finished speaking, and showed no +inclination to accept a private audience. + +"What I have to say, your Majesty," he began, "is this. I have learned +that all the secrets of your expedition have been sold to the Republic +of Messina. One of those now present in this room is charged with +having sold them. Shall I go on," he asked, "or do you still think it +advisable for anyone to leave the room?" + +He paused and glanced from the King to the double row of conspirators, +who were standing together in a close semicircle facing the King and +himself. The instant he ceased speaking there rose from their ranks an +outburst of consternation, of anger, and of indignant denial. The +King's spirits rose within him at the sound, although he frowned and +made a gesture as though to command silence. + +"Mr. Gordon, this is a serious charge you make," he said, smiling +grimly. "One that may cost you a great deal--it might cost you your +life perhaps." He paused significantly, and there was a second +outburst, this time from the younger men, which came so suddenly that +it was as though Louis had played upon certain chords on a keyboard, +and the sounds he wanted had answered to his touch. + +"Pardon me, that is not the question," said Gordon. "That I make +charges or run risks in making charges is not important. That your +expedition has failed before it has even started is, however, of great +importance, at least so it sees to me." + +There was a movement in the circle, and Father Paul pushed his way +forward from his place beside Miss Carson's chair. He was so greatly +moved that when he spoke his voice was harsh and broken. "What is your +authority for saying we have failed?" he demanded. + +Gordon bowed gravely and turned and pointed to the Frenchman. "This +gentleman," he said, "is General Renauld, Commander-in-Chief of the +army of Messina. He is my authority. He knows all that you mean to +do. If he knows it, it is likely, is it not, that his army and the +President of the Republic know it also, and that when we attempt to +land they will be waiting for us." + +The King silenced the second outburst that followed this by rising and +holding up his hand. + +"Silence! I believe I can explain," he said. He was smiling, and his +bearing was easy and so full of assurance that the exclamations and +whispers died away on the instant. "I am afraid I see what has +happened," the King said. "But there need be no cause for alarm. This +gentleman is, as Mr. Gordon says, the Commander-in-Chief of the +Messinian army, and it is true he suspected that an armed force would +invade the island. It is not strange that he should have suspected it, +and it needed no traitor to enlighten him. The visit of Father Paul +and the Prince Kalonay in the yacht, and their speeches inciting the +people to rebellion, would have warned the government that an +expedition might soon follow. The return of our yacht to this place +has no doubt been made known in Messina through the public press, and +General Renauld followed the yacht here to learn what he could of our +plans--of our intended movements. He came here to spy on us, and as a +spy I ordered Mr. Gordon to arrest him this morning on any charge he +pleased, and to place him out of our way until after to-night, when we +should have sailed. I chose Mr. Gordon to undertake this service +because he happened to speak the language of the country, and it was +necessary to deal directly with the local authorities without the +intervention of an outsider. What has happened is only too evident. +The spy, who when he came here only suspected, now, as Mr. Gordon says, +knows the truth, and he could have learned it only from one person, to +whom he has no doubt paid a pretty price for the information." The +King took a step forward and pointed with his hand at the American. "I +gave that man into your keeping, sir," he cried, "but I had you +watched. Instead of placing him in jail you took him to a cafe and +remained there with him for three hours, and from that cafe you came +directly here to this room. If he knows the truth, he learned it in +that cafe, and he learned it from you!" There was a ring of such +earnestness and sincerity in the King's speech, and he delivered it +with such indignation and bitter contempt that a shout of relief, of +approbation and conviction, went up from his hearers, and fell as +quickly on the words as the applause of an audience drowns out the last +note of a great burst of song. Barrat, in the excess of his relief, +turned his back sharply on the King, glancing sideways at Erhaupt and +shaking his head in speechless admiration. + +"He is wonderful, simply wonderful," Erhaupt muttered; "he would have +made a great actor or a great diplomat." + +"He is wasted as a King," whispered Barrat. + +There was a menacing movement on the part of the younger men toward +Gordon and General Renauld, which the King noted, but which he made no +effort to check. Neither Gordon nor General Renauld gave any sign that +they observed it. The American was busily engaged in searching his +pockets, and from one of these he produced two pieces of paper, which +he held up above his head, so that those in the room might see them. + +"One moment, please," he began, and then waited until the tumult in the +room had ceased. "Again, I must point out to you," he said, in brisk, +business-like tones, "that we are digressing. The important thing is +not who did, or did not, sell out the expedition, but that it is in +danger of failing altogether. What his Majesty says is in part +correct. I did not take this gentleman to jail; I did take him to a +cafe, and there he told me much more concerning the expedition than I +had learned from those directly interested. His information, he told +me, had been sold to the Republic by one who visited the island and who +claimed to act for one other. I appreciated the importance of what he +said, and I also guessed that my word and his unsupported might be +doubted, as you have just doubted it. So I took the liberty of +verifying what General Renauld told me by cabling to the President of +Messina." + +There was a shout of consternation at these words, but Gordon's manner +was so confident and the audacity of his admission so surprised his +hearers that they were silent again immediately, and waited, with +breathless interest, while Gordon unfolded one of the pieces of paper. + +"This is a copy of the cablegram I sent the President," he said, "and +to which, with his permission, I signed General Renauld's name. It is +as follows:-- + + +The President. The Palace, Messina.--They will not believe you are +fully informed. Cable at once the exact hour when they will leave +Tangier, at what hour they expect to land, at what place they expect to +land, what sum you have promised to pay for this information, and the +names of those to whom it is to be paid. + +RENAULD. + + +Gordon lowered the paper. "Is that quite clear?" he asked. "Do you +follow me? I have invited the enemy himself to inform you of your +plans, and to tell you who has betrayed them. His answer, which was +received a half hour ago, removes all suspicion from any save those he +names. General Renauld and myself cease to be of the least consequence +in the matter; we are only messengers. It is the President of Messina +who will speak to you now. If you still doubt that the secret of your +expedition is known to the President you will have to doubt him." + +The King sprang quickly to his feet and struck the arm of his chair +sharply with his open hand. + +"I shall not permit that message to be read," he said. "If we have a +traitor here, he is a traitor against me. And I shall deal with him as +I see fit, in private." + +There was a murmur of disappointment and of disapproval even, and the +King again struck the arm of his chair for silence. Kalonay advanced +toward him, shaking his head and holding out his hands in protest. + +"Your Majesty, I beseech you," he began. "This concerns us all," he +cried. "It is too evident that we have been betrayed; but it is not +fair to any of us that we should all lie under suspicion, as we must +unless it is told who has been guilty of this infamy. I beg your +Majesty to reconsider. There is no one in this room who is not in our +secret, and whoever has betrayed us must be with us here and now. I, +who have an interest second only to your own, ask that that cablegram +be read." + +There was a murmur of approbation from the conspirators, and +exclamations of approval and entreaty. Miss Carson, in her excitement, +had risen to her feet and was standing holding her mother's hand. The +King glanced uncertainly at Kalonay, and then turned to Barrat and +Erhaupt as if in doubt. + +Gordon's eyes were fixed for a moment on Kalonay with a strange and +puzzled expression. Then he gave a short sigh of relief, and turning +quickly searched the faces of those around him. What he saw seemed to +confirm him in his purpose, for he folded the paper and placed it in +his pocket. "His Majesty is right," he said. "I shall not read this." + +Kalonay and Father Paul turned upon him angrily. "You have no choice +in the matter, sir," Kalonay cried. "It has passed entirely out of +your hands." + +"I beg your Majesty that the cablegram be read," the priest demanded, +in a voice that held less the tone of a request than of a command. + +"I shall not read it," persisted Gordon, "because the person chiefly +concerned is not present." + + +"That is all the more reason for reading it," said Kalonay. "Your +Majesty must reconsider." + +The King whispered to Barrat, and the others waited in silence that +expressed their interest more clearly than a chorus of questions would +have done. + +"It shall be as you ask," the King said, at last. "You may read the +message, Mr. Gordon." + +Gordon opened the paper and looked at it for some seconds of time with +a grave and perplexed expression, and then, with a short breath, as one +who takes a plunge, read it aloud. "This is it," he said. + + +To General Renauld. Cable Office, Tangier.--They leave Tangier Tuesday +at midnight, they land at daybreak Thursday morning on the south beach +below the old breakwater. The secret of the expedition was sold us for +three hundred thousand francs by the Countess Zara and the Prince +Kalonay. + + +Gordon stuck the paper in his pocket, and, crossing to Kalonay, held +out his hand, with a smile. "I don't believe it, of course," he said; +"but you would have it." + +Kalonay neither saw the gesture nor heard the words. He was turning in +bewilderment from the King to Father Paul, and he laughed uncertainly. + +"What nonsense is this?" he demanded. "Whose sorry trick is this? The +lie is not even ingenious." + +General Renauld had not spoken since he had entered the room, but now +he advanced in front of Kalonay and faced him with a threatening +gesture. + +"The President of Messina does not lie, sir," he said, sternly. "I +myself saw the Countess Zara write out that paper, which I and others +signed, and in which we agreed to pay to her and to you the money you +asked for betraying your King." + +Father Paul pressed his hand heavily on Kalonay's shoulder. "Do not +answer him," he commanded. Gordon had moved to Kalonay's other side, +and the three men had unconsciously assumed an attitude of defence, and +stood back to back in a little group facing the angry circle that +encompassed them. The priest raised his arm to command a hearing. + +"Where is Madame Zara?" he cried. + +"Ah, where indeed?" echoed the King, sinking back into his chair. "She +has fled. It is all too evident now; she has betrayed us and she has +fled." + +But on his words, as if in answer to the priest's summons, the curtains +that hid the door into the King's private room were pulled to one side, +and Madame Zara appeared between them, glancing fearfully at the +excited crowd before her. As she stood hesitating on the threshold, +she swayed slightly and clutched the curtains for a moment as though +for support. The priest advanced, and led her to the centre of the +room. She held a folded paper in her hand, which she gave to him in +silence. + +"You have heard what has passed?" he asked, with a toss of his head +toward the heavy curtains. The woman raised her head and bowed. The +priest unfolded the paper. + +"Am I to read this?" he asked. The woman bowed again. + +There was silence in the room while the priest's eyes ran quickly over +the paper. He crushed it in his hand. + +"It is as General Renauld says," he exclaimed. "In this the Republic +of Messina agrees to pay the Countess Zara and the Prince Kalonay three +hundred thousand francs, if the expedition is withdrawn after it has +made a pretence of landing on the shores of Messina." + +He took a step forward. "Madame Zara," he cried, in a tone of warning, +"do you pretend that the Prince Kalonay was your accomplice in this; +that he knew what you meant to do?" + +Madame Zara once more bowed her head. + +"No! You must speak," commanded the priest. "Answer me!" + +Zara hesitated, in evident distress, and glanced appealingly at the +King; but the expression on his face was one of grief and of +unrelenting virtue. "I do," she said, at last, in a low voice. +"Kalonay did know. He thought the revolution would not succeed; he +thought it would fail, and so--and so--and we needed money. They made +me--I, O my God, I cannot--I cannot!" she cried, suddenly, sinking on +her knees and hiding her face with her hands. + +Kalonay stepped toward her and lifted her gently to her feet; but when +she looked and saw who it was that held her, she gave a cry and pulled +herself free. She staggered and would have fallen, had not Gordon +caught and held her by the arm. The King rose from his chair and +pointed at the shrinking figure of the woman. + +"Stand aside from her," he said, sternly. "Why should we pity her, +what pity has she shown for us--for me? She has robbed me of my +inheritance. But let her go, she is a woman; we cannot punish her. +Her sins rest on her own head. But you--you," he cried, turning +fiercely on Kalonay, his voice rising to a high and melancholy key, +"you whom I have heaped with honors, whom I have leaned upon as on the +arm of a brother, that you should have sold me for silver, that you +should have turned Judas!" + +The crowd of volunteers, bewildered by the rapid succession of events, +and confused and rendered desperate by the failure of their expedition, +caught up the word, and pressing forward with a rush, surrounded +Kalonay in an angry circle, crying "Judas!" "Traitor!" and "Coward!" + +Kalonay turned from side to side. On some he smiled bitterly in +silence, and at others he broke out into swift and fierce +denunciations; but the men around him crowded closer and would not +permit him to be heard. He had turned upon them, again challenging +them to listen, when there was an opening in the circle and the men +stepped back, and Miss Carson pushed her way among them and halted at +Kalonay's side. She did not look at him, but at the men about him. +She was the only calm figure in the group, and her calmness at such a +crisis, and her youth, and the fineness and fearlessness of her beauty, +surprised them into a sudden quiet. There was instantly a cry for +order, and the men stood curious and puzzled, watching to see what she +would do. + +"Gentlemen," she said, in a clear, grave voice. "Gentlemen," she +repeated, sharply, as a few murmurs still greeted her, "if you are +gentlemen, let this lady speak. She has not finished." She crossed +quickly and took the Countess Zara by the hand. "Go on, madame," she +urged, gently. "Do not be afraid. You say they made you do it. Who +made you do it? You have told us a part of the truth. Now tell us the +whole truth." For a moment the girl seemed much the older of the two, +and as Zara glanced up at her fearfully, she smiled to reassure her, +and stroked the woman's hand with her own. "Who made you do it?" she +repeated. "Not the Prince Kalonay, surely. You cannot hope to make us +believe that. We trust him absolutely. Who was it, then?" + +The King sprang forward with an oath; his apathy and mock dignity had +fallen from him like a mask. His face was mottled, and his vicious +little eyes flashed with fear and anger. Erhaupt crowded close behind +him, crouching like a dog at his heels. + +"She has lied enough already," the King cried. "We will not listen to +her. Take her away." + +"Yes, let her go," shouted Erhaupt, with a laugh. "If she had been a +decent woman----" + +There was a quick parting in the group and the sound of a heavy blow as +Kalonay flung himself upon Erhaupt and struck him in the face, so that +he staggered and fell at length upon the floor. Gordon stood over him, +his fingers twitching at his side. + +"Stand up, you bully," he said, "and get out of this, before we throw +you out." + +Zara's face had turned a pitiful crimson, but her eyes flashed and +burned with resolve and indignation. She stood erect and menacing, +like an angry goddess, and more beautiful in her indignation than they +had ever seen her. + +"Now, I shall tell them the truth," she said, sternly. "That man," she +cried, pointing her finger at the King, "that man whom they call a +King--that man who would have sacrificed the only friend who serves him +unselfishly--is the man who sold your secret to the enemy. It was he +who made me do it. He sent me to Messina, and while the priest and the +Prince Kalonay were working in the south, I sold them to the government +at the capital. Barrat knew it, Erhaupt knew it, the King himself +planned it--to get money. He has robbed all of his own people; he had +meant to rob this young girl; and he is so mean and pitiful a creature +that to save himself he now tries to hide behind the skirts of a woman, +and to sacrifice her,--the woman who has given her soul to him. And +for this--my God!" she cried, her voice rising in an accent of agony +and bitter contempt--"for this!" + +There was a grim and momentous silence in the room while Zara turned, +and without waiting to learn what effect her words might have, made her +way swiftly through the crowd and passed on out of the room and on to +the terrace beyond. + +The King crouched back in his chair like a common criminal in the dock, +glancing fearfully from under his lowered eyebrows at the faces about +him, and on none did he see the least question of doubt but that Zara +had at last spoken the truth. + +"She lies," the King muttered, as though answering their unspoken +thoughts, "the woman lies." + +There was no movement from the men about him. Shame for him, and grief +and bitter disappointment for themselves, showed on the face of each. +From outside a sea-breeze caught up the sand of the beach and drove it +whispering against the high windows, and the beat of the waves upon the +shores filled out and marked the silence of the room. + +The Prince Kalonay stepped from the circle and stood for a moment +before the King, regarding him with an expression of grief and bitter +irony. The King's eyes rose insolently, and faltered, and sank. + +"For many years, your Majesty," the Prince said, but so solemnly that +it was as though he were a judge upon the bench, or a priest speaking +across an open grave, "the Princes of my house have served the Kings of +yours. In times of war they fought for the King in battle, they +beggared themselves for him in times of peace; our women sold their +jewels for the King, our men gave him their lives, and in all of these +centuries the story of their loyalty, of their devotion, has had but +one sequel, and has met with but one reward,--ingratitude and +selfishness and treachery. You know how I have served you, Louis. You +know that I gave up my fortune and my home to go into exile with you, +and I did that gladly. But I did more than that. I did more than any +king or any man has the right to expect of any other man. I served +your idle purposes so well that you, yourself, called me your jackal, +the only title your Majesty has ever bestowed that was deserved. There +is no low thing nor no base thing that I have not done for you. To +serve your pleasures, to gain you money, I have sunken so low that all +the royal blood in Europe could not make me clean. But there is a +limit to what a man may do for his King, and to the loyalty a King may +have the right to demand. And to-day and here, with me, the story of +our devotion to your House ends, and you go your way and I go mine, and +the last of my race breaks his sword and throws it at your feet, and is +done with you and yours forever." + +Even those in the room who held no sympathy in their hearts for the +sentiment that had inspired the young man, felt that at that moment and +in their hearing he had renounced what was to him his religion and his +faith, and on the faces of all was the expression of a deep pity and +concern. Their own adventure, in the light of his grief and bitterness +of spirit, seemed selfish and little, and they stood motionless, in an +awed and sorrowful silence. + +The tense strain of the moment was broken suddenly by the advent on the +scene of an actor who had, in the rush of events, been neglected and +forgotten. The little Crown Prince had stood clinging to his nurse's +skirts, an uncomprehending spectator of what was going forward. But he +now advanced slowly, feeling that the silence invited him to claim his +father's notice. He halted beside the chair in which Louis sat, his +head bent on his hands, and made an effort to draw himself up to his +father's knee. + +But the King pushed him down, and hid his face from him. The child +turned irresolutely, with a troubled countenance, and, looking up, saw +that the attention of all was fixed upon him. At this discovery a +sudden flood of shyness overtook him, and he retreated hastily until +his eyes fell on the Prince Kalonay, standing alone, with his own eyes +turned resolutely away. There was a breathless hush in the room as the +child, with a happy sigh, ran to his former friend and comrade, and +reached up both his arms. The tableau was a familiar one to those who +knew them, and meant only that the child asked to be lifted up and +swung to the man's shoulder; but following as it did on what had just +passed, the gesture and the attitude carried with them the significance +of an appeal. Kalonay, as though with a great effort, lowered his eyes +to the upturned face of the child below him, but held himself back and +stood stiffly erect. A sharp shake of the head, as though he argued +with himself, was the only sign he gave of the struggle that was going +on within him. + +At this second repulse, the child's arms dropped to his side, his lips +quivered, and he stood, a lonely little figure, glancing up at the +circle of men about him, and struggling to press back the tears that +came creeping to his eyes. + +Kalonay regarded him steadfastly for a brief moment, as though he saw +him as a stranger, searching his face with eyes as pitiful as the +child's own; and then, with a sudden, sharp cry, the Prince dropped on +his knee and caught the child toward him, crushing him against his +heart, and burying his face on his shoulder. There was a shout of +exultation from the nobles, and an uttered prayer from the priest, and +in a moment the young men had crowded in around them, struggling to be +the first to kiss the child's hands, and to ask pardon of the man who +held him in his arms. + +"Gentlemen," Kalonay cried, his voice laughing through his tears, "we +shall still sail for the island of Messina. They shall not say of us +that we visited the sins of the father on a child. I was weak, my +friends, and I was credulous. I thought I could break the tradition of +centuries. But our instincts are stronger than our pride, and the +House I have always served I shall serve to the last." He swung the +Crown Prince high upon his shoulder, and held his other arm above his +head. "You will help me place this child upon his throne," he +commanded, and the room rang with cheers. "You will appeal to his +people," he cried. "Do you not think they will rise to this +standard-bearer, will they not rally to his call? For he is a true +Prince, my comrades, who comes to them with no stain of wrong or +treachery, without a taint, as untarnished as the white snow that lies +summer and winter in the hollow of our hills, `and a child shall lead +us, and a child shall set them free.' To the yacht!" he shouted. "We +will sail at once, and while they wait for us to be betrayed into their +hands at the north, we shall be landing in the south, and thousands +will be hurrying to our standard." + +His last words were lost in a tumult of cheers and cries, and the young +men poured out upon the terrace, running toward the shore, and filling +the soft night-air with shouts of "Long live the Prince Regent!" "Long +live our King!" + +As the room grew empty Kalonay crossed it swiftly and advancing to Miss +Carson took her hand. His face was radiant with triumph and content. +He regarded her steadily for a moment, as though he could not find +words to tell his feelings. + +"You had faith in me," he said, at last. "Can I ever make you +understand how much that means to me? When all had turned against me +you trusted me, you had faith in me, in the King's jackal." + +"Silence; you must never say that again," the girl commanded, gently. +"You have shown it to be the lie it always was. We shall call you the +Defender of the Faith now; you are the guardian of a King." She smiled +at the little boy in his arms, and made a slight courtesy to them both. +"You have outgrown your old title," she said; "you have a proud one +now, you will be the Prince Regent." + +Kalonay, with the child in his arms, and Miss Carson were standing +quite alone. General Renauld had been led away, guarded by a merry +band of youngsters; the King still crouched in his chair, with Barrat +bowed behind him, but pulling, with philosophic calm, on a cigarette, +and Father Paul and Gordon were in close conversation with Mrs. Carson +at the farther end of the room. The sun had set, and the apartment was +in semi-darkness. Kalonay moved closer to Miss Carson and looked +boldly into her eyes, "There is a prouder title than that of the +Regent," he whispered; "will you ever give it me?" + +The girl started, breathing quickly, and turned her head aside, making +an effort to free her hand, but Kalonay held it closer in his own. +"Will you give it me?" he begged. + +Then the girl looked up at him smiling, but with such confidence and +love in her eyes that he read his answer, though she shook her head, as +though to belie the truth her eyes had told him. + +"When you have done your work," she said, "come to me or send for me, +and I shall come and give you my answer; and whether you fail or +succeed the answer will be the same." + +Kalonay stooped quickly and kissed her hand, and when he raised his +face his eyes were smiling with such happiness that the little child in +his arms read it there, and smiled too in sympathy, and pressed his +face closer against his comrade's shoulder. + +Gordon at this moment moved across the room and bowed, making a deep +obeisance to the child. + +"Might I be permitted," he asked, "to kiss his Royal Highness? I +should like to boast of the fact, later," he explained. + +The Crown Prince turned his sad, wise eyes on him in silence, and +gravely extended a little hand. + +"You may kiss his Highness's hand," said Kalonay, smiling. + +Gordon laughed and pressed the fingers in his own. + +"When you talk like that, Kalonay," he said, "you make me feel like +Alice in the court-room with the Kings and Queens around her. A dozen +times this afternoon I've felt like saying, `After all, they are only a +pack of cards.'" + +Kalonay shook his head and glanced toward Miss Carson for enlightenment. + +"I don't understand," he said. + +"No, you couldn't be expected to," said Gordon; "You have not been +educated up to that. It is the point of view." + +He stuck out the middle finger of his hand, and drove it three times +deliberately into the side of the Crown Prince. The child gasped and +stared open-mouthed at the friendly stranger, and then catching the +laugh in Gordon's eyes, laughed with him. + +"Now," said Gordon, "I shall say that I have dug the King of Messina in +the ribs--that is even better than having kissed him. God bless your +Royal Highness," he said, bowing gravely. "You may find me +disrespectful at times," he added; "but then, you must remember, I am +going to risk a valuable life for you. At least it's an extremely +valuable one to me." + +Kalonay looked at Gordon for a moment with serious consideration, and +then held out his hand. "You also had faith in me," he said. "I thank +you. Are you in earnest; do you really wish to serve us?" + +"I mean to stay by you until the boy is crowned," said the American, +"unless we separate on our several paths of glory--where they will lead +depends, I imagine, on how we have lived." + +"Or on how we die," Kalonay added. "I am glad to hear you speak so. +If you wish, I shall attach you to the person of the Crown Prince. You +shall be on the staff with the rank of Colonel." + +Gordon made a low and sweeping bow. + +"Rise, Sir Archibald Gordon," he said. "I thank you," he added. "We +shall strive to please." + +Miss Carson shook her head at him, and sighed in protest. + +"Will you always take everything as a joke, Archie?" she said. + +"My dear Patty," he answered, "the situation is much too serious to +take in any other way." + +They moved to the door, and there the priest and Mrs. Carson joined +them; but on the threshold Kalonay stopped and looked for the first +time since he had addressed him at the King. + +He regarded him for some seconds sternly in silence, and then pointed, +with his free hand, at the crown of Messina, which still rested on the +table at the King's elbow. "Colonel Gordon," he said, in a tone of +assured authority, "I give the crown of Messina into your keeping. You +will convey it, with all proper regard for its dignity, safely on board +the yacht, and then bring it at once to me." + +When he had finished speaking the Prince turned and, without looking at +the King, passed on with the others across the terrace and disappeared +in the direction of the shore, where the launch lay waiting. + +Gordon crossed the room and picked up the crown from the table, lifting +it with both hands, the King and Barrat watching him in silence as he +did so. He hesitated, and held it for a moment, regarding it with much +the same expression of awe and amusement that a man shows when he is +permitted to hold a strange baby in his arms. Turning, he saw the +sinister eyes of the King and of Barrat fastened upon him, and he +smiled awkwardly, and in some embarrassment turned the crown about in +his hands, so that the jewels in its circle gleamed dully in the dim +light of the room. Gordon raised the crown and balanced it on his +finger-tips, regarding it severely and shaking his head. + +"There are very few of these left in the world now, your Majesty," he +said, cheerfully, "and the number is getting smaller every year. We +have none at all in my country, and I should think--seeing they are so +few--that those who have them would take better care of them, and try +to keep them untarnished, and brushed up, and clean." He turned his +head and looked inquiringly at the King, but Louis made no sign that he +heard him. + +"I have no desire, you understand me," continued Gordon, unabashed, "to +take advantage of a man when he is down, but the temptation to say `I +told you so' seems almost impossible to resist. What?" he asked--"I +beg your pardon, I thought you spoke." But the King continued +scornfully silent, and only a contemptuous snort from Barrat expressed +his feelings. + +Gordon placed the crown carefully under his arm, and then removed it +quickly, with a guilty look of dismay at its former owner, and let it +swing from his hand; but this fashion of carrying it seemed also +lacking in respect, so he held it up again with both hands and glanced +at the King in some perplexity. + +"There ought to be a sofa-cushion to go with this, or something to +carry it on," he said, in a grieved tone. "You see, I am new at this +sort of thing. Perhaps your Majesty would kindly give me some expert +information. How do you generally carry it?" + +The King's eyes snapped open and shut again. + +"On my head," he said, grimly. + +Gordon laughed in great relief. + +"Now, do you know, I like that," he cried. "That shows spirit. I am +glad to see you take it so cheerfully. Well, I must be going, sir," he +added, nodding, and moving toward the door. "Don't be discouraged. As +someone says, `It's always morning somewhere,' and in my country +there's just as good men out of office as there are in it. Good-night." + +While the sound of Gordon's footsteps died away across the marble +terrace, the King and Barrat remained motionless and silent. The +darkness in the room deepened and the silence seemed to deepen with it; +and still they remained immovable, two shadowy figures in the deserted +apartment where the denunciations of those who had abandoned them still +seemed to hang and echo in the darkness. What thoughts passed through +their minds or for how long a time they might still have sat in bitter +contemplation can only be guessed, for they were surprised by the sharp +rattle of a lock, the two great doors of the adjoining room were thrown +wide open, and a broad and brilliant light flooded the apartment. +Niccolas, the King's majordomo, stood between the doors, a black +silhouette against the glare of many candles. + +"His Majesty is served!" he said. + +The King lifted his head sharply, as though he found some lurking +mockery in the words, or some fresh affront; but in the obsequious bow +of his majordomo there was no mockery, and the table beyond glistened +with silver, while a pungent and convincing odor of rich food was +wafted insidiously through the open doors. + +The King rose with a gentle sigh, and nodded to his companion. + +"Come, Barrat," he said, taking the baron's arm in his. "The rascals +have robbed us of our throne, but, thank God, they have had the grace +to leave me my appetite." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The King's Jackal, by Richard Harding Davis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S JACKAL *** + +***** This file should be named 411.txt or 411.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/411/ + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +This etext was prepared with the use of Calera WordScan Plus 2.0 + + + + +THE KING'S +JACKAL + +BY +RICHARD HARDING DAVIS + + + + + +The King's Jackal + +I + + +The private terrace of the Hotel Grand Bretagne, at Tangier, +was shaded by a great awning of red and green and yellow, and +strewn with colored mats, and plants in pots, and wicker +chairs. It reached out from the Kings apartments into the +Garden of Palms, and was hidden by them on two sides, and +showed from the third the blue waters of the Mediterranean and +the great shadow of Gibraltar in the distance. + +The Sultan of Morocco had given orders from Fez that the King +of Messina, in spite of his incognito, should be treated +during his stay in Tangier with the consideration due to his +rank, so one-half of the Hotel Grand Bretagne had been set +aside for him and his suite, and two soldiers of the Bashaw's +Guard sat outside of his door with drawn swords. They were +answerable with their heads for the life and safety of the +Sultan's guest, and as they could speak no language but their +own, they made a visit to his Majesty more a matter of +adventure than of etiquette. + +Niccolas, the King's majordomo, stepped out upon the terrace +and swept the Mediterranean with a field-glass for the third +time since sunrise. He lowered it, and turned doubtfully +toward the two soldiers. + +"The boat from Gibraltar--has she arrived yet?" he asked. + +The two ebony figures shook their heads stiffly, as though +they resented this introduction of a foreign language, and +continued to shake their heads as the servant addressed the +same question to them in a succession of strange tongues. + +"Well," said Colonel Erhaupt, briskly, as he followed Niccolas +out upon the terrace, "has the boat arrived? And the launch +from the yacht," he continued, "has it started for shore yet?" + +The man pointed to where the yacht lay, a mile outside the +harbor, and handed him the glass. + +"It is but just now leaving the ship's side," he said. "But I +cannot make out who comes in her. Ah, pardon," he added +quickly, as he pointed to a stout elderly gentleman who walked +rapidly toward them through the garden. "The Gibraltar boat +must be in, sir. Here is Baron Barrat coming up the path." + +Colonel Erhaupt gave an exclamation of satisfaction, and waved +his hand to the newcomer in welcome. + +"Go tell his Majesty," he said to the servant. + +The man hesitated and bowed. "His Majesty still sleeps." + +"Wake him," commanded Erhaupt. "Tell him I said to do so. +Well, Baron," he cried, gayly, as he stepped forward, +"welcome--or are you welcome?" he added, with an uneasy laugh. + +"I should be. I have succeeded," the other replied gruffly, +as he brushed past him. "Where is the King?" + +"He will be here in a moment. I have sent to wake him. And +you have been successful? Good. I congratulate you. How far +successful?" + +The Baron threw himself into one of the wicker chairs, and +clapped his hands impatiently for a servant. "Twelve thousand +pounds in all," he replied. "That's more than he expected. +It was like pulling teeth at first. I want some coffee at +once," he said to the attendant, "and a bath. That boat +reeked with Moors and cattle, and there was no wagon-lit on +the train from Madrid. I sat up all night, and played cards +with that young Cellini. Have Madame Zara and Kalonay +returned? I see the yacht in the harbor. Did she succeed?" + +"We do not know; the boat only arrived at daybreak. They are +probably on the launch that is coming in now." + +As Barrat sipped his coffee and munched his rolls with the +silent energy of a hungry man, the Colonel turned and strode +up and down the terrace, pulling at his mustache and glancing +sideways. When the Baron had lighted a cigarette and thrown +himself back in his chair, Erhaupt halted and surveyed him in +some anxiety. + +"You have been gone over two weeks," he said. "I should like +to see you accomplish as much in as short a time," growled the +other. "You know Paris. You know how hard it is to get +people to be serious there. I had the devil's own time at +first. You got my cablegram?" + +"Yes; it wasn't encouraging." + +"Well, I wasn't hopeful myself. They wouldn't believe a word +of it at first. They said Louis hadn't shown such great love +for his country or his people since his exile that they could +feel any confidence in him, and that his conduct in the last +six years did not warrant their joining any undertaking in +which he was concerned. You can't blame them. They've backed +him so many times already, and they've been bitten, and +they're shy, naturally. But I swore he was repentant, that he +saw the error of his ways, that he wanted to sit once more +before he died on the throne of his ancestors, and that he +felt it was due to his son that he should make an effort to +get him back his birthright. It was the son won them. +`Exhibit A' I call him. None of them would hear of it until I +spoke of the Prince. So when I saw that, I told them he was a +fine little chap, healthy and manly and brave, and devoted to +his priest, and all that rot, and they began to listen. At +first they wanted his Majesty to abdicate, and give the boy a +clear road to the crown, but of course I hushed that up. I +told them we were acting advisedly, that we had reason to know +that the common people of Messina were sick of the Republic, +and wanted their King; that Louis loved the common people like +a father; that he would re-establish the Church in all her +power, and that Father Paul was working day and night for us, +and that the Vatican was behind us. Then I dealt out +decorations and a few titles, which Louis has made smell so +confoundedly rank to Heaven that nobody would take them. It +was like a game. I played one noble gentleman against +another, and gave this one a portrait of the King one day, and +the other a miniature of `Exhibit A' the next and they grew +jealous, and met together, and talked it over, and finally +unlocked their pockets. They contributed about L9,000 +between them. Then the enthusiasm spread to the women, and +they gave me their jewels, and a lot of youngsters volunteered +for the expedition, and six of them came on with me in the +train last night. I won two thousand francs from that boy +Cellini on the way down. They're all staying at the +Continental. I promised them an audience this morning." + +"Good," commented the Colonel, "good--L9,000. I suppose you +took out your commission in advance?" + +"I took out nothing," returned the other, angrily. "I brought +it all with me, and I have a letter from each of them stating +just what he or she subscribed toward the expedition,--the +Duke Dantiz, so much; the Duke D'Orvay, 50,000 francs; the +Countess Mattini, a diamond necklace. It is all quite +regular. I played fair." The Colonel had stopped in his +walk, and had been peering eagerly down the leafy path through +the garden. "Is that not Zara coming now?" he asked. "Look, +your eyes are better than mine." + +Barrat rose quickly, and the two men walked forward, and +bowed with the easy courtesy of old comrades to a tall, fair +girl who came hurriedly up the steps. The Countess Zara was a +young woman, but one who had stood so long on guard against +the world, that the strain had told, and her eyes were hard +and untrustful, so that she looked much older than she really +was. Her life was of two parts. There was little to be told +of the first part; she was an English girl who had come from a +manufacturing town to study art and live alone in Paris, where +she had been too indolent to work, and too brilliant to remain +long without companions eager for her society. Through them +and the stories of her wit and her beauty, she had come to +know the King of Messina, and with that meeting the second +part of her life began; for she had found something so +attractive, either in his title or in the cynical humor of the +man himself, that for the last two years she had followed his +fortunes, and Miss Muriel Winter, art student, had become the +Countess Zara, and an uncrowned queen. She was beautiful, +with great masses of yellow hair and wonderful brown eyes. +Her manner when she spoke seemed to show that she despised the +world and those in it almost as thoroughly as she despised +herself. + +On the morning of her return from Messina, she wore a blue +serge yachting suit with a golf cloak hanging from her +shoulders, and as she crossed the terrace she pulled nervously +at her gloves and held out her hand covered with jewels to +each of the two men. + +"I bring good news," she said, with an excited laugh. "Where +is Louis?" + +"I will tell his Majesty that you have come. You are most +welcome," the Baron answered. + +But as he turned to the door it opened from the inside and the +king came toward them, shivering and blinking his eyes in the +bright sunlight. It showed the wrinkles and creases around +his mouth and the blue veins under the mottled skin, and the +tiny lines at the corners of his little bloodshot eyes that +marked the pace at which he had lived as truthfully as the +rings on a tree-trunk tell of its quiet growth. + +He caught up his long dressing-gown across his chest as though +it were a mantle, and with a quick glance to see that there +were no other witnesses to his deshabille, bent and kissed the +woman's hand, and taking it in his own stroked it gently. + +"My dear Marie," he lisped, "it is like heaven to have you +back with us again. We have felt your absence every hour. +Pray be seated, and pardon my robe. I saw you through the +blinds and could not wait. Tell us the glorious news. The +Baron's good words I have already overheard; I listened to +them with great entertainment while I was dressing. I hoped +he would say something discourteous or foolish, but he was +quite discreet until he told Erhaupt that he had kept back +none of the money. Then I lost interest. Fiction is never so +entertaining to me as the truth and real people. But tell us +now of your mission and of all you did; and whether successful +or not, be assured you are most welcome." + +The Countess Zara smiled at him doubtfully and crossed her +hands in her lap, glancing anxiously over her shoulder. + +"I must be very brief, for Kalonay and Father Paul are close +behind me," she said. "They only stopped for a moment at the +custom-house. Keep watch, Baron, and tell me when you see +them coming." + +Barrat moved his chair so that it faced the garden-path, the +King crossed his legs comfortably and wrapped his padded +dressing-robe closer around his slight figure, and Erhaupt +stood leaning on the back of his chair with his eyes fixed on +the fine insolent beauty of the woman before them. + +She nodded her head toward the soldiers who sat at the +entrance to the terrace, as silent and immovable as blind +beggars before a mosque. "Do they understand?" she asked. + +"No," the King assured her. "They understand nothing, but +that they are to keep people away from me--and they do it very +well. I wish I could import them to Paris to help Niccolas +fight off creditors. Continue, we are most impatient." + +"We left here last Sunday night, as you know," she said. "We +passed Algiers the next morning and arrived off the island at +mid-day, anchoring outside in the harbor. We flew the Royal +Yacht Squadron's pennant, and an owner's private signal that +we invented on the way down. They sent me ashore in a boat, +and Kalonay and Father Paul continued on along the southern +shore, where they have been making speeches in all the +coast-towns and exciting the people in favor of the +revolution. I heard of them often while I was at the capital, +but not from them. The President sent a company of carbineers +to arrest them the very night they returned and smuggled me on +board the yacht again. We put off as soon as I came over the +side and sailed directly here. + +"As soon as I landed on Tuesday I went to the Hotel de +Messina, and sent my card to the President. He is that man +Palaccio, the hotel-keeper's son, the man you sent out of the +country for writing pamphlets against the monarchy, and who +lived in Sicily during his exile. He gave me an audience at +once, and I told my story. As he knew who I was, I explained +that I had quarrelled with you, and that I was now prepared to +sell him the secrets of an expedition which you were fitting +out with the object of re-establishing yourself on the throne. +He wouldn't believe that there was any such expedition, and +said it was blackmail, and threatened to give me to the police +if I did not leave the island in twenty-four hours--he was +exceedingly rude. So I showed him receipts for ammunition and +rifles and Maxim guns, and copies of the oath of allegiance to +the expedition, and papers of the yacht, in which she was +described as an armored cruiser, and he rapidly grew polite, +even humble, and I made him apologize first, and then take me +out to luncheon. That was the first day. The second day +telegrams began to come in from the coast-towns, saying that +the Prince Kalonay and Father Paul were preaching and exciting +the people to rebellion, and travelling from town to town in a +man-of-war. Then he was frightened. The Prince with his +popularity in the south was alarming enough, but the Prince +and Father Superior to help him seemed to mean the end of the +Republic. + +"I learned while I was down there that the people think the +father put some sort of a ban on every one who had anything to +do with driving the Dominican monks out of the island and with +the destruction of the monasteries. I don't know whether he +did or not, but they believe he did, which is the same thing, +and that superstitious little beast, the President, certainly +believed it; he attributed everything that had gone wrong on +the island to that cause. Why, if a second cousin of the wife +of a brother of one of the men who helped to fire a church +falls off his horse and breaks his leg they say that he is +under the curse of the Father Superior, and there are many who +believe the Republic will never succeed until Paul returns and +the Church is re-established. The Government seems to have +kept itself well informed about your Majesty's movements, and +it has never felt any anxiety that you would attempt to +return, and it did not fear the Church party because it knew +that without you the priests could do nothing. But when Paul, +whom the common people look upon as a living saint and martyr, +returned hand in hand with your man Friday, they were in a +panic and felt sure the end had come. So the President called +a hasty meeting of his Cabinet. And such a Cabinet! I wish +you could have seen them, Louis, with me in the centre playing +on them like an advocate before a jury. They were the most +dreadful men I ever met, bourgeois and stupid and ugly to a +degree. Two of them were commission-merchants, and one of +them is old Dr. Gustavanni, who kept the chemist's shop in the +Piazza Royale. They were quite silly with fear, and they +begged me to tell them how they could avert the fall of the +Republic and prevent your landing. And I said that it was +entirely a question of money; that if we were paid +sufficiently the expedition would not land and we would leave +them in peace, but that----" + +The King shifted his legs uneasily, and coughed behind his +thin, pink fingers. + +"That was rather indiscreet, was it not, Marie?" he murmured. +"The idea was to make them think that I, at least, was +sincere; was not that it? To make it appear that though there +were traitors in his camp, the King was in most desperate +earnest? If they believe that, you see, it will allow me to +raise another expedition as soon as the money we get for this +one is gone; but if you have let them know that I am the one +who is selling out, you have killed the goose that lays the +golden eggs. They will never believe us when we cry wolf +again----" + +"You must let me finish," Zara interrupted. "I did not +involve you in the least. I said that there were traitors in +the camp of whom I was the envoy, and that if they would pay +us 300,000 francs we would promise to allow the expedition +only to leave the yacht. Their troops could then make a show +of attacking our landing-party and we would raise the cry of +`treachery' and retreat to the boats. By this we would +accomplish two things,--we would satisfy those who, had +contributed funds toward the expedition that we had at least +made an honest effort, and your Majesty would be discouraged +by such treachery from ever attempting another attack. The +money was to be paid two weeks later in Paris, to me or to +whoever brings this ring that I wear. The plan we finally +agreed upon is this: The yacht is to anchor off Basnai next +Thursday night. At high tide, which is just about daybreak, +we are to lower our boats and land our men on that long beach +to the south of the break-water. The troops of the Republic +are to lie hidden in the rocks until our men have formed. +Then they are to fire over their heads, and we are to retreat +in great confusion, return to the yacht, and sail away. Two +weeks later they are to pay the money into my hands, or," she +added, with a smile, as she held up her fourth finger, "to +whoever brings this ring. And I need not say that the ring +will not leave my finger." + +There was a moment's pause, as though the men were waiting to +learn if she had more to tell, and then the King threw back +his head and laughed softly. He saw Erhaupt's face above his +shoulder, filled with the amazement and indignation of a man +who as a duellist and as a soldier had shown a certain brute +courage, and the King laughed again. + +"What do you think of that, Colonel?" he cried, gayly. "They +are a noble race, my late subjects." + +"Bah!" exclaimed the German. "I didn't know we were dealing +with a home for old women." + +The Baron laughed comfortably. "It is like taking money from +a blind beggar's hat," he said. + +"Why, with two hundred men that I could pick up in London," +Erhaupt declared, contemptuously, "I would guarantee to put +you on the throne in a fortnight." + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed his Majesty. "So they surrendered +as quickly as that, did they?" he asked, nodding toward Madame +Zara to continue. + +The Countess glanced again over her shoulder and bit her lips +in some chagrin. Her eyes showed her disappointment. "It may +seem an easy victory to you," she said, consciously, "but I +doubt, knowing all the circumstances, if any of your Majesty's +gentlemen could have served you as well. It needed a woman +and----" + +"It needed a beautiful woman," interrupted the King, quickly, +in a tone that he would have used to a spoiled child. "It +needed a woman of tact, a woman of courage, a woman among +women--the Countess Zara. Do not imagine, Marie, that we +undervalue your part. It is their lack of courage that +distresses Colonel Erhaupt." + +"One of them, it is true, did wish to fight," the Countess +continued, with a smile; "a Frenchman named Renauld, whom they +have put in charge of the army. He scoffed at the whole +expedition, but they told him that a foreigner could not +understand as they did the danger of the popularity of the +Prince Kolonay, who, by a speech or two among the shepherds +and fishermen, could raise an army." + +The King snapped his fingers impatiently. + +"An army of brigands and smugglers!" he exclaimed. "That for +his popularity!" But he instantly raised his hands as though +in protest at his own warmth of speech and in apology for his +outbreak. + +"His zeal will ruin us in time. He is deucedly in the way," +he continued, in his usual tone of easy cynicism. "We should +have let him into our plans from the first, and then if he +chose to take no part in them we would at least have had a +free hand. As it is now, we have three different people to +deceive: this Cabinet of shopkeepers, which seems easy enough; +Father Paul and his fanatics of the Church party; and this +apostle of the divine right of kings, Kalonay. And he and the +good father are not fools----" + +At these words Madame Zara glanced again toward the garden, +and this time with such evident uneasiness in her face that +Barrat eyed her with quick suspicion. + +"What is it?" he asked, sharply. "There is something you have +not told us." + +The woman looked at the King, and he nodded his head as though +in assent. "I had to tell them who else was in the plot +besides myself," she said, speaking rapidly. "I had to give +them the name of some man who they knew would be able to do +what I have promised we could do--who could put a stop to the +revolution. The name I gave was his--Kalonay's." + +Barrat threw himself forward in his chair. + +"Kalonay's?" he cried, incredulously. + +"Kalonay's?" echoed Erhaupt. "What madness, Madame! Why name +the only one who is sincere?" + +"She will explain," said the King, in an uneasy voice; "let +her explain. She has acted according to my orders and for the +best, but I confess I----" + +"Some one had to be sacrificed," returned the woman, boldly, +"and why not he? Indeed, if we wish to save ourselves, there +is every reason that it should be he. You know how mad he is +for the King's return, how he himself wishes to get back to +the island and to his old position there. Why, God only +knows, but it is so. What pleasure he finds in a land of +mists and fogs, in a ruined castle with poachers and smuggling +fishermen for companions, I cannot comprehend. But the fact +remains, he always speaks of it as home and he wishes to +return. And now, suppose he learns the truth, as he may at +any moment, and discovers that the whole expedition for which +he is staking his soul and life is a trick, a farce; that we +use it only as a bait to draw money from the old nobility, and +to frighten the Republic into paying us to leave them in +peace? How do we know what he might not do? He may tell the +whole of Europe. He may turn on you and expose you, and then +what have we left? It is your last chance. It is our last +chance. We have tried everything else, and we cannot show +ourselves in Europe, at least not without money in our hands. +But by naming Kalonay I have managed it so that we have only +to show the written agreement I have made with the Republic +and he is silenced. In it they have promised to pay the +Prince Kalonay, naming him in full, 300,000 francs if the +expedition is withdrawn. That agreement is in my hands, and +that is our answer to whatever he may think or say. Our word +is as good as his, or as bad; we are all of the same party as +far as Europe cares, and it becomes a falling out among +thieves, and we are equal." + +Baron Barrat leaned forward and marked each word with a +movement of his hand. + +"Do I understand you to say," he asked, "that you have a paper +signed by the Republic agreeing to pay 300,000 francs to +Kalonay? Then how are we to get it?" he demanded, +incredulously. "From him?" + +"It is made payable to him," continued the woman, "or to +whoever brings this ring I wear to the banking-house of the +Schlevingens two weeks after the expedition has left the +island. I explained that clause to them by saying that +Kalonay and I were working together against the King, and as +he might be suspicious if we were both to leave him so soon +after the failure of the expedition we would be satisfied if +they gave the money to whichever one first presented the ring. +Suppose I had said," she went on, turning to the King, "that +it was either Barrat or the Colonel here who had turned +traitor. They know the Baron of old, when he was Chamberlain +and ran your roulette wheel at the palace. They know he is +not the man to turn back an expedition. And the Colonel, if +he will pardon me, has sold his services so often to one side +or another that it would have been difficult to make them +believe that this time he is sincere. But Kalonay, the man +they fear most next to your Majesty--to have him turn traitor, +why, that was a master stroke. Even those boors, stupid as +they are, saw that. When they made out the agreement they put +down all his titles, and laughed as they wrote them in. +`Prince Judas' they called him, and they were in ecstasies at +the idea of the aristocrat suing for blood-money against his +sovereign, of the man they feared showing himself to be only a +common blackmailer. It delighted them to find a prince royal +sunk lower than themselves, this man who has treated them like +curs--like the curs they are," she broke out suddenly--"like +the curs they are!" + +She rose and laughed uneasily as though at her own vehemence. + +"I am tired," she said, avoiding the King's eyes; "the trip +has tired me. If you will excuse me, I will go to my +rooms--through your hall-way, if I may." + +"Most certainly," said the King. "I trust you will be rested +by dinner-time. Au revoir, my fair ambassadrice." + +The woman nodded and smiled back at him brightly, and Louis +continued to look after her as she disappeared down the +corridor. He rubbed the back of his fingers across his lips, +and thoughtfully examined his finger-nails. + +"I wonder," he said, after a pause, looking up at Barrat. The +Baron raised his eyebrows with a glance of polite +interrogation. + +"I wonder if Kalonay dared to make love to her on the way +down." + +The Baron's face became as expressionless as a death-mask, and +he shrugged his shoulders in protest. + +"--Or did she make love to Kalonay?" the King insisted, +laughing gently. "I wonder now. I do not care to know, but I +wonder." + +According to tradition the Kalonay family was an older one +than that of the House of Artois, and its name had always been +the one next in importance to that of the reigning house. The +history of Messina showed that different members of the +Kalonay family had fought and died for different kings of +Artois, and had enjoyed their favor and shared their reverses +with equal dignity, and that they had stood like a rampart +when the kingdom was invaded by the levelling doctrines of +Republicanism and equality. And though the Kalonays were men +of stouter stuff than their cousins of Artois, they had never +tried to usurp their place, but had set an example to the +humblest shepherd of unfailing loyalty and good-will to the +King and his lady. The Prince Kalonay, who had accompanied +the Dominican monk to Messina, was the last of his race, and +when Louis IV. had been driven off the island, he had followed +his sovereign into exile as a matter of course, and with his +customary good-humor. His estates, in consequence of this +step, had been taken up by the Republic, and Kalonay had +accepted the loss philosophically as the price one pays for +loving a king. He found exile easy to bear in Paris, and +especially so as he had never relinquished the idea that some +day the King would return to his own again. So firmly did he +believe in this, and so keenly was his heart set upon it, that +Louis had never dared to let him know that for himself exile +in Paris and the Riviera was vastly to be preferred to +authority over a rocky island hung with fogs, and inhabited by +dull merchants and fierce banditti. + +The conduct of the King during their residence in Paris would +have tried the loyalty of one less gay and careless than +Kalonay, for he was a sorry monarch, and if the principle that +"the King can do no wrong" had not been bred in the young +Prince's mind, he would have deserted his sovereign in the +early days of their exile. But as it was, he made excuses for +him to others and to himself, and served the King's idle +purposes so well that he gained for himself the name of the +King's jackal, and there were some who regarded him as little +better than the King's confidential blackguard, and man +Friday, the weakest if the most charming of his court of +adventurers. + +At the first hint which the King gave of his desire to place +himself again in power, Kalonay had ceased to be his Jackal +and would have issued forth as a commander-in-chief, had the +King permitted him; but it was not to Louis's purpose that the +Prince should know the real object of the expedition, so he +assigned its preparation to Erhaupt, and despatched Kalonay to +the south of the island. At the same time Madame Zara had +been sent to the north of the island, ostensibly to sound the +sentiment of the old nobility, but in reality to make capital +out of the presence there of Kalonay and Father Paul. + +The King rose hurriedly when the slim figure of the Prince and +the broad shoulders and tonsured head of the monk appeared at +the farthest end of the garden-walk. + +"They are coming!" he cried, with a guilty chuckle; "so I +shall run away and finish dressing. I leave you to receive +the first shock of Kalonay's enthusiasm alone. I confess he +bores me. Remember, the story Madame Zara told them in the +yacht is the one she told us this morning, that none of the +old royalists at the capital would promise us any assistance. +Be careful now, and play your parts prettily. We are all +terribly in earnest." + +Kalonay's enthusiasm had not spent itself entirely before the +King returned. He had still a number of amusing stories to +tell, and he reviewed the adventures of the monk and himself +with such vivacity and humor that the King nodded his head in +delight, and even the priest smiled indulgently at the +recollection. + +Kalonay had seated himself on one of the tables, with his feet +on a chair and with a cigarette burning between his fingers. +He was a handsome, dark young man of thirty, with the +impulsive manner of a boy. Dissipation had left no trace on +his face, and his eyes were as innocent of evil and as +beautiful as a girl's, and as eloquent as his tongue. "May +the Maria Santissima pity the girls they look upon," his old +Spanish nurse used to say of them. But Kalonay had shown pity +for every one save himself. His training at an English public +school, and later as a soldier in the Ecole Polytechnique at +Paris, had saved him from a too early fall, and men liked him +instinctively, and the women much too well. + +"It was good to be back there again," he cried, with a happy +sigh. "It was good to see the clouds following each other +across the old mountains and throwing black shadows on the +campagna, and to hear the people's patois and to taste +Messinian wine again and to know it was from your own +hillside. All our old keepers came down to the coast to meet +us, and told me about the stag-hunt the week before, and who +was married, and who was in jail, and who had been hanged for +shooting a customs officer, and they promised fine deer +stalking if I get back before the snow leaves the ridges, for +they say the deer have not been hunted and are running wild." +He stopped and laughed. "I forgot," he said, "your Majesty +does not care for the rude pleasures of my half of the +island." Kalonay threw away his cigarette, clasping his hands +before him with a sudden change of manner. + +"But seriously," he cried, "as I have been telling them--I +wish your Majesty could have heard the offers they made us, +and could have seen the tears running down their faces when we +assured them that you would return. I wished a thousand times +that we had brought you with us. With you at our head we can +sweep the island from one end to the other. We will gather +strength and force as we go, as a landslide grows, and when we +reach the capital we will strike it like a human avalanche. + +"And I wish you could have heard him speak," Kalonay cried, +his enthusiasm rising as he turned and pointed with his hand +at the priest. "There is the leader! He made my blood turn +hot with his speeches, and when he had finished I used to find +myself standing on my tiptoes and shouting with the rest. +Without him I could have done nothing. They knew me too well; +but the laziest rascals in the village came to welcome him +again, and the women and men wept before him and brought their +children to be blessed, and fell on their knees and kissed his +sandals. It was like the stories they tell you when you are a +child. He made us sob with regret and he filled us with fresh +resolves. Oh, it is very well for you to smile, you old +cynics," he cried, smiling at his own fervor, "but I tell you, +I have lived since I saw you last!" + +The priest stood silent with his hands hidden inside his great +sleeves, and his head rising erect and rigid from his cowl. +The eyes of the men were turned upon him curiously, and he +glanced from one to the other, as though mistrusting their +sympathy. + +"It was not me--it was the Church they came to welcome. The +fools," he cried bitterly, "they thought they could destroy +the faith of the people by banishing the servants of the +Church. As soon end a mother's love for her children by +putting an ocean between them. For six years those peasants +have been true. I left them faithful, I returned to find them +faithful. And now--" he concluded, looking steadily at the +King as though to hold him to account, "and now they are to +have their reward." + +The King bowed his head gravely in assent. "They are to have +their reward," he repeated. He rose and with a wave of his +hand invited the priest to follow him, and they walked +together to the other end of the terrace. When they were out +of hearing of the others the King seated himself, and the +priest halted beside his chair. + +"I wish to speak with you, father," Louis said, "concerning +this young American girl, Miss Carson, who has promised to +help us--to help you--with her money. Has she said yet how +much she means to give us," asked the King, "and when she +means to let us have it? It is a delicate matter, and I do +not wish to urge the lady, but we are really greatly in need +of money. Baron Barrat, who arrived from Paris this morning, +brings back no substantial aid, although the sympathy of the +old nobility, he assures me, is with us. Sympathy, however, +does not purchase Maxim guns, nor pay for rations, and Madame +Zara's visit to the capital was, as you know, even less +successful." + +"Your Majesty has seen Miss Carson, then?" the priest asked. + +"Yes, her mother and she have been staying at the Continental +ever since they followed you here from Paris, and I have seen +her once or twice during your absence. The young lady seems +an earnest daughter of our faith, and she is deeply in +sympathy with our effort to re-establish your order and the +influence of the Church upon the island. I have explained to +her that the only way in which the Church can regain her +footing there is through my return to the throne, and Miss +Carson has hinted that she is willing to make even a larger +contribution than the one she first mentioned. If she means +to do this, it would be well if she did it at once." + +"Perhaps I have misunderstood her," said the priest, after a +moment's consideration; "but I thought the sum she meant to +contribute was to be given only after the monarchy has been +formally established, and that she wished whatever she gave to +be used exclusively in rebuilding the churches and the +monastery. I do not grudge it to your Majesty's purpose, but +so I understood her." + +"Ah, that is quite possible," returned Louis, easily; "it may +be that she did so intend at first, but since I have talked +with her she has shown a willing disposition to aid us not +only later, but now. My success means your success," he +continued, smiling pleasantly as he rose to his feet, "so I +trust you will urge her to be prompt. She seems to have +unlimited resources in her own right. Do you happen to know +from whence her money comes?" + +"Her mother told me," said the priest, "that Mr. Carson before +his death owned mines and railroads. They live in California, +near the Mission of Saint Francis. I have written concerning +them to the Father Superior there, and he tells me that Mr. +Carson died a very rich man, and that he was a generous +servant of the Church. His daughter has but just inherited +her father's fortune, and her one idea of using it is to give +it to the Church, as he would have done." + +The priest paused and seemed to consider what the King had +just told him. "I will speak with her," he said, "and ask her +aid as fully as she can give it. May I inquire how far your +Majesty has taken her into our plans?" + +"Miss Carson is fully informed," the King replied briefly. +"And if you wish to speak with her you can see her now; she +and her mother are coming to breakfast with me to hear the +account of your visit to the island. You can speak with her +then--and, father," the King added, lowering his eyes and +fingering the loose sleeve of the priest's robe, "it would be +well, I think, to have this presentation of the young nobles +immediately after the luncheon, while Miss Carson is still +present. We might even make a little ceremony of it, and so +show her that she is fully in our confidence--that she is one +of our most valued supporters. It might perhaps quicken her +interest in the cause." + +"I see no reason why that should not be," said the priest, +thoughtfully, turning his eyes to the sea below them. "Madame +Zara," he added, without moving his eyes, "will not be +present." + +The King straightened himself slightly, and for a brief moment +of time looked at the priest in silence, but the monk +continued to gaze steadily at the blue waters. + +"Madame Zara will not be present," the King repeated, coldly. + +"There are a few fishermen and mountaineers, your Majesty," +the priest continued, turning an unconscious countenance to +the King, "who came back with us from the island. They come +as a deputation to inform your Majesty of the welcome that +waits you, and I have promised them an audience. If you will +pardon me I would suggest that you receive these honest people +at the same time with the others, and that his Highness the +Crown Prince be also present, and that he receive them with +you. Their anxiety to see him is only second to their desire +to speak to your Majesty. You will find some of your most +loyal subjects among these men. Their forefathers have been +faithful to your house and to the Church for many +generations." + +"Excellent," said the King; "I shall receive them immediately +after the deputation from Paris. Consult with Baron Barrat +and Kalonay, please, about the details. I wish either Kalonay +or yourself to make the presentation. I see Miss Carson and +her mother coming. After luncheon, then, at, say, three +o'clock--will that be satisfactory?" + +"As your Majesty pleases," the priest answered, and with a bow +he strode across the terrace to where Kalonay stood watching +them. + + + + + +II + + + +Mrs. Carson and her daughter came from the hotel to the +terrace through the hallway which divided the King's +apartments. Baron Barrat preceded them and they followed in +single file, Miss Carson walking first. It was a position her +mother always forced upon her, and after people grew to know +them they accepted it as illustrating Mrs. Carson's confidence +in her daughter's ability to care for herself, as well as her +own wish to remain in the background. + +Patricia Carson, as she was named after her patron saint, or +"Patty" Carson, as she was called more frequently, was an +exceedingly pretty girl. She was tall and fair, with a smile +that showed such confidence in everyone she met that few could +find the courage to undeceive her by being themselves, and it +was easier, in the face of such an appeal as her eyes made to +the best in every one, for each to act a part while he was +with her. She was young, impressionable, and absolutely +inexperienced. As a little girl she had lived on a great +ranch, where she could gallop from sunrise to sunset over her +own prairie land, and later her life had been spent in a +convent outside of Paris. She had but two great emotions, her +love for her father and for the Church which had nursed her. +Her father's death had sanctified him and given him a place in +her heart that her mother could not hold, and when she found +herself at twenty-one the mistress of a great fortune, her one +idea as to the disposal of it was to do with it what would +best please him and the Church which had been the ruling power +in the life of both of them. She was quite unconscious of her +beauty, and her mode of speaking was simple and eager. + +She halted as she came near the King, and resting her two +hands on the top of her lace parasol, nodded pleasantly to him +and to the others. She neither courtesied nor offered him her +hand, but seemed to prefer this middle course, leaving them to +decide whether she acted as she did from ignorance or from +choice. + +As the King stepped forward to greet her mother, Miss Carson +passed him and moved on to where the Father Superior stood +apart from the others, talking earnestly with the Prince. +What he was saying was of an unwelcome nature, for Kalonay's +face wore an expression of boredom and polite protest which +changed instantly to one of delight when he saw Miss Carson. +The girl hesitated and made a deep obeisance to the priest. + +"I am afraid I interrupt you," she said. + +"Not at all," Kalonay assured her, laughing. "It is a most +welcome interruption. The good father has been finding fault +with me, as usual, and I am quite willing to change the +subject." + +The priest smiled kindly on the girl, and while he exchanged +some words of welcome with her, Kalonay brought up one of the +huge wicker chairs, and she seated herself with her back to +the others, facing the two men, who stood leaning against the +broad balustrade. They had been fellow-conspirators +sufficiently long for them to have grown to know each other +well, and the priest, so far from regarding her as an +intruder, hailed her at once as a probable ally, and +endeavored to begin again where he had ceased speaking. + +"Do you not agree with me, Miss Carson?" he asked. "I am +telling the Prince that zeal is not enough, and that high +ideals, unless they are accompanied by good conduct, are +futile. I want him to change, to be more sober, more +strict----" + +"Oh, you must not ask me," Miss Carson said, hurriedly, +smiling and shaking her head. "We are working for only one +thing, are we not? Beyond that you know nothing of me, and I +know nothing of you. I came to hear of your visit," she +continued; "am I to be told anything?" she asked, eagerly, +looking from one to the other. "It has been such an anxious +two weeks. We imagined all manner of things had happened to +you." + +Kalonay laughed happily. "The Father was probably never safer +in his life," he said. "They took us to their hearts like +brothers. They might have suffocated us with kindness, but we +were in no other danger." + +"Then you are encouraged, Father?" she asked, turning to the +priest. "You found them loyal? Your visit was all you hoped, +you can depend upon them?" + +"We can count upon them absolutely," the monk assured her. +"We shall start on our return voyage at once, in a day, as +soon as his Majesty gives the word." + +"There are so many things I want to know," the girl said; "but +I have no right to ask," she added, looking up at him +doubtfully. + +"You have every right," the monk answered. "You have +certainly earned it. Without the help you gave us we could +not have moved. You have been more than generous----" + +Miss Carson interrupted him with an impatient lifting of her +head. "That sort of generosity is nothing," she said. "With +you men it is different. You are all risking something. You +are actually helping, while I must sit still and wait. I +hope, Father," she said, smiling, "it is not wrong for me to +wish I were a man." + +"Wrong!" exclaimed Kalonay, in a tone of mock dismay; "of +course it's wrong. It's wicked." + +The monk turned and looked coldly over his shoulder at +Kalonay, and the Prince laughed. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, "but we are told to be contented +with our lot," he argued, impenitently. "`He only is a slave +who complains,' and that is true even if a heretic did say +it." + +The monk shook his head and turned again to Miss Carson with a +tolerant smile. + +"He is very young," he said, as though Kalonay did not hear +him, "and wild and foolish--and yet," he added, doubtfully, "I +find I love the boy." He regarded the young man with a kind +but impersonal scrutiny, as though he were a picture or a +statue. "Sometimes I imagine he is all I might have been," he +said, "had not God given me the strength to overcome myself. +He has never denied himself in anything; he is as wilful and +capricious as a girl. He makes a noble friend, Miss Carson, +and a generous enemy; but he is spoiled irretrievably by good +fortune and good living and good health." The priest looked +at the young man with a certain sad severity. "`Unstable as +water, thou shalt not excel,'" he said. + +The girl, in great embarrassment, turned her head away, +glancing from the ocean to the sky; but Kalonay seated himself +coolly on the broad balustrade of the terrace with his hands +on his hips, and his heels resting on the marble tiling, and +clicked the soles of his boots together. + +"Oh, I have had my bad days, too, Father," he said. He turned +his head on one side, and pressed his lips together, looking +down. + +"Unstable as water--that is quite possible," he said, with an +air of consideration; "but spoiled by good fortune--oh, no, +that is not fair. Do you call it good fortune, sir," he +laughed, "to be an exile at twenty-eight? Is it good fortune +to be too poor to pay your debts, and too lazy to work; to be +the last of a great name, and to have no chance to add to the +glory of it, and no means to keep its dignity fresh and +secure? Do you fancy I like to see myself drifting farther +and farther away from the old standards and the old +traditions; to have English brewers and German Jew bankers +taking the place I should have, buying titles with their +earnings and snubbing me because I can only hunt when someone +gives me a mount, and because I choose to take a purse instead +of a cup when we shoot at Monte Carlo?" + +"What child's talk is this?" interrupted the priest, angrily. +"A thousand horses cannot make a man noble, nor was poverty +ever ignoble. You talk like a weak boy. Every word you say +is your own condemnation. Why should you complain? Your bed +is of your own making. The other prodigal was forced to herd +with the swine--you have chosen to herd with them." + +The girl straightened herself and half rose from her chair. + +"You are boring Miss Carson with my delinquencies," said the +Prince, sternly. His face was flushed, and he did not look +either at the girl or at the priest. + +"But the prodigal's father?" said Miss Carson, smiling at the +older man. "Did he stand over him and upbraid him? You +remember, he went to meet him when he was yet a great way off. +That was it, was it not, Father?" + +"Of course he did," cried Kalonay, laughing like a boy, and +slipping lightly to the terrace. "He met him half way and +gave him the best he had." He stepped to Miss Carson's side +and the two young people moved away smiling, and the priest, +seeing that they were about to escape him, cried eagerly, "But +that prodigal had repented. This one----" + +"Let's run," cried the Prince. "He will get the best of us if +we stay. He always gets the best of me. He has been abusing +me that way for two weeks now, and he is always sorry +afterward. Let us leave him alone to his sorrow and remorse." + +Kalonay walked across the terrace with Miss Carson, bending +above her with what would have seemed to an outsider almost a +proprietary right. She did not appear to notice it, but +looked at him frankly and listened to what he had to say with +interest. He was speaking rapidly, and as he spoke he glanced +shyly at her as though seeking her approbation, and not +boldly, as he was accustomed to do when he talked with either +men or women. To look at her with admiration was such a cheap +form of appreciation, and one so distasteful to her, that had +he known it, Kalonay's averted eyes were more of a compliment +than any words he could have spoken. His companions who had +seen him with other women knew that his manner to her was not +his usual manner, and that he gave her something he did not +give to the others; that he was more discreet and less ready, +and less at ease. + +The Prince Kalonay had first met Miss Carson and her mother by +chance in Paris, at the rooms of Father Paul, where they had +each gone on the same errand, and since that meeting his whole +manner toward the two worlds in which he lived had altered so +strangely that mere acquaintances noticed the change. + +Before he had met her, the little the priest had said +concerning her and her zeal for their common desire had piqued +his curiosity, and his imagination had been aroused by the +picture of a romantic young woman giving her fortune to save +the souls of the people of Messina; his people whom he +regarded and who regarded him less as a feudal lord than as a +father and a comrade. He had pictured her as a nervous, +angular woman with a pale, ascetic face, and with the restless +eyes of an enthusiast, dressed in black and badly dressed, and +with a severe and narrow intelligence. But he had prepared +himself to forgive her personality, for the sake of the high +and generous impulse that inspired her. And when he was +presented to her as she really was, and found her young, +lovable, and nobly fair, the shock of wonder and delight had +held him silent during the whole course of her interview with +the priest, and when she had left them his brain was in a +tumult and was filled with memories of her words and gestures, +and of the sweet fearlessness of her manner. Beautiful women +he had known before as beautiful women, but the saving grace +in his nature had never before been so deeply roused by what +was fine as well as beautiful. It seemed as though it were +too complete and perfect. For he assured himself that she +possessed everything--those qualities which he had never +valued before because he believed them to be unattainable, and +those others which he had made his idols. She was with him, +mind and heart and soul, in the one desire of his life that he +took seriously; she was of his religion, she was more noble +than his noble sisters, and she was more beautiful than the +day. In the first glow of the meeting it seemed to him as +though fate had called them to do this work together,--she +from the far shore of the Pacific, and he from his rocky +island in the Middle Sea. And he saw with cruel distinctness, +that if there were one thing wanting, it was himself. He +worshipped her before he had bowed his first good-by to her, +and that night he walked for miles up and down the long +lengths of the avenue of the Champs-Elysees, facing the great +change that she had brought into his life, but knowing himself +to be utterly unfit for her coming. He felt like an unworthy +steward caught at his master's return unprepared, with ungirt +loins, and unlighted lamp. Nothing he had done since he was a +child gave him the right to consider himself her equal. He +was not blinded by the approaches which other daughters and +the mothers of daughters had made him. He knew that what was +enough to excuse many things in their eyes might find no +apology in hers. He looked back with the awakening of a child +at the irrevocable acts in his life that could not be altered +nor dug up nor hidden away. They marked the road he had +trodden like heavy milestones, telling his story to every +passer-by. She could read them, as everyone else could read +them. He had wasted his substance, he had bartered his +birthright for a moment's pleasure; there was no one so low +and despicable who could not call him comrade, to whom he had +not given himself without reserve. There was nothing left, +and now the one thing he had ever wanted had come, and had +found him like a bankrupt, his credit wasted and his coffers +empty. He had placed himself at the beck and call of every +idle man and woman in Paris, and he was as common as the great +clock-face that hangs above the boulevards. + +Miss Carson's feelings toward Kalonay were not of her own +choosing, and had passed through several stages. When they +had first met she had thought it most sad that so careless and +unprincipled a person should chance to hold so important a +part in the task she had set herself to do. She knew his +class only by hearsay, but she placed him in it, and, +accordingly, at once dismissed him as a person from her mind. +Kalonay had never shown her that he loved her, except by those +signs which any woman can read and which no man can conceal; +but he did not make love to her, and it was that which first +prepossessed her in his favor. One or two other men who knew +of her fortune, and to whom she had given as little +encouragement as she had to Kalonay, had been less +considerate. But his attitude toward her was always that of a +fellow-worker in the common cause. He treated her with a +gratitude for the help she meant to give his people which much +embarrassed her. His seriousness pleased her with him, +seeing, as she did, that it was not his nature to be serious, +and his enthusiasm and love for his half-civilized countrymen +increased her interest in them, and her liking for him. She +could not help but admire the way in which he accepted, +without forcing her to make it any plainer, the fact that he +held no place in her thoughts. And then she found that he +began to hold more of a place in her thoughts than she had +supposed any man could hold of whom she knew so little, and of +whom the little she knew was so ill. She missed him when she +went to the priest's and found that he had not sent for +Kalonay to bear his part in their councils; and at times she +felt an unworthy wish to hear Kalonay speak the very words she +had admired him for keeping from her. And at last she learned +the truth that she did love him, and it frightened her, and +made her miserable and happy. They had not seen each other +since he had left Paris for Messina, and though they spoke now +only of his mission to the island, there was back of what they +said the joy for each of them of being together again and of +finding that it meant so much. What it might mean to the +other, neither knew. + +For some little time the King followed the two young people +with his eyes, and then joined them, making signs to Kalonay +that he wished him to leave them together; but Kalonay +remained blind to his signals, and Barrat, seeing that it was +not a tete-a-tete, joined them also. When he did so Kalonay +asked the King for a word, and laying his hand upon his arm +walked with him down the terrace, pointing ostensibly to where +the yacht lay in the harbor. Louis answered his pantomime +with an appropriate gesture, and then asked, sharply, "Well, +what is it? Why did you bring me here? And what do you mean +by staying on when you see you are not wanted?" + +They were some distance from the others. Kalonay smiled and +made a slight bow. "Your Majesty," he began, with polite +emphasis. The King looked at him curiously. + +"In the old days under similar circumstances," the Prince +continued, with the air of a courtier rather than that of an +equal, "had I thought of forming an alliance by marriage, I +should have come to your Majesty first and asked your gracious +approval. But those days are past, and we are living at the +end of the century; and we do such things differently." He +straightened himself and returned the King's look of amused +interest with one as cynical as his own. "What I wanted to +tell you, Louis," he said, quietly, "is that I mean to ask +Miss Carson to become the Princess Kalonay." + +The King raised his head quickly and stared at the younger man +with a look of distaste and surprise. He gave an incredulous +laugh. + +"Indeed?" he said at last. "There was always something about +rich women you could never resist." + +The Prince made his acknowledgment with a shrug of his +shoulders and smiled indifferently. + +"I didn't expect you to understand," he said. "It does seem +odd; it's quite as difficult for me to understand as for you. +I have been through it a great many times, and I thought I +knew all there was of it. But now it seems different. No, it +does not seem different," he corrected himself; "it is +different, and I love the lady and I mean to ask her to do me +the honor to marry me. I didn't expect you to understand, I +don't care if you do. I only wanted to warn you." + +"Warn me?" interrupted the King, with an unpleasant smile. +"Indeed! against what? Your tone is a trifle peremptory--but +you are interesting, most interesting! Kalonay in a new role, +Kalonay in love! Most interesting! Warn me against what?" he +repeated sharply. + +"Your Majesty has a certain manner," the Prince began, with a +pretence of hesitation, "a charm of manner, I might say, which +is proverbial. It is, we know, attractive to women. Every +woman acknowledges it. But your Majesty is sometimes too +gracious. He permits himself to condescend to many women, to +any woman, to women of all classes----" + +"That will do," said the King; "what do you mean?" + +"What I mean is this," said Kalonay, lowering his voice and +looking into the King's half-closed eyes. "You can have all +of Miss Carson's money you want--all you can get. I don't +want it. If I am to--marry her at all, I am not marrying her +for her money. You can't believe that. It isn't essential +that you should. But I want you to leave the woman I hope to +make my wife alone. I will allow no pretty speeches, nor +royal attentions. She can give her money where she pleases, +now and always; but I'll not have her eyes opened to--as you +can open them. I will not have her annoyed. And if she +is----" + +"Ah, and if she is?" challenged the King. His eyes were wide +apart now and his lips were parted and drawn back from his +teeth, like a snarling cat---- + +"I shall hold whoever annoys her responsible," Kalonay +concluded, impersonally. + +There was a moment's pause, during which the two men stood +regarding each other warily. + +Then the King stiffened his shoulders and placed his hands +slowly behind his back. "That sounds, my dear Kalonay," he +said, "almost like a threat." + +The younger man laughed insolently. "I meant it, too, your +Majesty," he answered, bowing mockingly and backing away. + +As the King's guests seated themselves at his breakfast-table +Louis smiled upon them with a gracious glance of welcome and +approval. His manner was charmingly condescending, and in his +appearance there was nothing more serious than an anxiety for +their better entertainment and a certain animal satisfaction +in the food upon his plate. + +In reality his eyes were distributing the people at the table +before him into elements favorable or unfavorable to his +plans, and in his mind he shuffled them and their values for +him or against him as a gambler arranges and rearranges the +cards in his hand. He saw himself plainly as his own highest +card, and Barrat and Erhaupt as willing but mediocre +accomplices. In Father Paul and Kalonay he recognized his +most powerful allies or most dangerous foes. Miss Carson +meant nothing to him but a source from which he could draw the +sinews of war. What would become of her after the farce was +ended, he did not consider. He was not capable of +comprehending either her or her motives, and had he concerned +himself about her at all, he would have probably thought that +she was more of a fool than the saint she pretended to be, and +that she had come to their assistance more because she wished +to be near a Prince and a King than because she cared for the +souls of sixty thousand peasants. That she would surely lose +her money, and could hardly hope to escape from them without +losing her good name, did not concern him. It was not his +duty to look after the reputation of any American heiress who +thought she could afford to be unconventional. She had a +mother to do that for her, and she was pretty enough, he +concluded, to excuse many things,--so pretty that he wondered +if he might brave the Countess Zara and offer Miss Carson the +attentions to which Kalonay had made such arrogant objections. +The King smiled at the thought, and let his little eyes fall +for a moment on the tall figure of the girl with its crown of +heavy golden hair, and on her clever, earnest eyes. She was +certainly worth waiting for, and in the meanwhile she was +virtually unprotected and surrounded by his own people. +According to his translation of her acts, she had already +offered him every encouragement, and had placed herself in a +position which to his understanding of the world could have +but one interpretation. What Kalonay's sudden infatuation +might mean he could not foresee; whether it promised good or +threatened evil, he could only guess, but he decided that the +young man's unwonted show of independence of the morning must +be punished. His claim to exclusive proprietorship in the +young girl struck the King as amusing, but impertinent. It +would be easy sailing in spite of all, he decided; for +somewhere up above them in the hotel sat the unbidden guest, +the woman against whom Father Paul had raised the ban of +expulsion, but who had, nevertheless, tricked both him and the +faithful Jackal. + +The breakfast was drawing to an end and the faithful Niccolas +was the only servant remaining in the room. The talk had +grown intimate and touched openly upon the successful visit of +the two ambassadors to the island, and of Barrat's mission to +Paris. Of Madame Zara's visit to the northern half of the +island, which was supposed to have been less successful, no +mention was made. + +Louis felt as he listened to them like a man at a play, who +knows that at a word from him the complications would cease, +and that were he to rise in the stalls and explain them away, +and point out the real hero and denounce the villain, the +curtain would have to ring down on the instant. He gave a +little purr of satisfaction, and again marshalled his chances +before him and smiled to find them good. He was grandly at +peace with himself and with the world. Whatever happened, he +was already richer by some 300,000 francs, and in a day, if he +could keep the American girl to her expedition had been played +he would be free,--free to return to his clubs and to his +boulevards and boudoirs, with money enough to silence the most +insolent among his creditors, and with renewed credit; with +even a certain glamour about him of one who had dared to do, +even though he had failed in the doing, who had shaken off the +slothfulness of ease and had chosen to risk his life for his +throne with a smoking rifle in his hand, until a traitor had +turned fortune against him. + +The King was amused to find that this prospect pleased him +vastly. He was surprised to discover that, careless as he +thought himself to be to public opinion, he was still capable +of caring for its approbation; but he consoled himself for +this weakness by arguing that it was only because the +approbation would be his by a trick that it pleased him to +think of. Perhaps some of his royal cousins, in the light of +his bold intent, might take him under their protection instead +of neglecting him shamefully, as they had done in the past. +His armed expedition might open certain doors to him; his +name--and he smiled grimly as he imagined it--would ring +throughout Europe as the Soldier King, as the modern disciple +of the divine right of kings. He saw, in his mind's eye, even +the possibility of a royal alliance and a pension from one of +the great Powers. No matter where he looked he could see +nothing but gain to himself, more power for pleasure, more +chances of greater fortune in the future, and while his lips +assented to what the others said, and his eyes thanked them +for some expression of loyalty or confidence, he saw himself +in dreams as bright as an absinthe drinker's, back in his +beloved Paris: in the Champs-Elysees behind fine horses, +lolling from a silk box at the opera, dealing baccarat at the +jockey Club, or playing host to some beautiful woman of the +hour, in the new home he would establish for her in the +discreet and leafy borders of the Bois. + +He had forgotten his guests and the moment. He had forgotten +that there were difficulties yet to overcome, and with a +short, indrawn sigh of pleasure, he threw back his head and +smiled arrogantly upon the sunny terrace and the green palms +and the brilliant blue sea, as though he challenged the whole +beautiful world before him to do aught but minister to his +success and contribute to his pleasures. + +And at once, as though in answer to his challenge, a tall, +slim young man sprang lightly up the steps of the terrace, +passed the bewildered guards with a cheery nod, and, striding +before the open windows, knocked with his fist upon the +portals of the door, as sharply and as confidently as though +the King's shield had hung there, and he had struck it with a +lance. + +The King's dream shattered and faded away at the sound, and he +moved uneasily in his chair. He had the gambler's +superstitious regard for trifles, and this invasion of his +privacy by a confident stranger filled him with sudden +disquiet. + +He saw Kalonay staring at the open windows with an expression +of astonishment and dismay. + +"Who is it?" the King asked, peevishly. "What are you staring +at? How did he get in?" + +Kalonay turned on Barrat, sitting at his right. "Did you see +him?" he asked. Barrat nodded gloomily. + +"The devil!" exclaimed the Prince, as though Barrat had +confirmed his guess. "I beg your pardon," he said, nodding +his head toward the women. He pushed back his chair and stood +irresolutely with his napkin in his hand. "Tell him we are +not in, Niccolas," he commanded. + +"He saw us as he passed the window," the Baron objected. + +"Say we are at breakfast then. I will see him myself in a +moment. What shall I tell him?" he asked, turning to Barrat. +"Do you think he knows? He must know, they have told him in +Paris." + +"You are keeping us waiting," said the King. "What is it? +Who is this man?" + +"An American named Gordon. He is a correspondent," Kalonay +answered, without turning his head. His eyes were still fixed +on the terrace as though he had seen a ghost. + +The King slapped his hand on the arm of the chair. "You +promised me," he said, "that we should be free from that sort +of thing. That is why I agreed to come here instead of going +to Algiers. Go out, Barrat, and send him away." + +Barrat pressed his lips together and shook his head. + +"You can't send him away like that," he said. "He is a very +important young man." + +"Find out how much he will take, then," exclaimed the King, +angrily, "and give it to him. I can better afford to pay +blackmail to any amount than have my plans spoiled now by the +newspapers. Give him what he wants--a fur coat--they always +wear fur coats--or five thousand francs, or +something--anything--but get rid of him." + +Barrat stirred uneasily in his chair and shrugged his +shoulders. "He is not a boulevard journalist," he replied, +sulkily. + +"Your Majesty is thinking of the Hungarian Jews at Vienna," +explained Kalonay, "who live on chantage and the Monte Carlo +propaganda fund. This man is not in their class; he is not to +be bought. I said he was an American." + +"An American!" exclaimed Mrs. Carson and her daughter, +exchanging rapid glances. "Is it Archie Gordon you mean?" the +girl asked. "I thought he was in China." + +"That is the man--Archie Gordon. He writes books and explores +places," Kalonay answered. + +"I know him. He wrote a book on the slave trade in the +Congo," contributed Colonel Erhaupt. "I met him at Zanzibar. +What does he want with us?" + +"He was in Yokohama when the Japanese-Chinese war broke out," +said Kalonay, turning to the King, "and he cabled a London +paper he would follow the war for it if they paid him a +hundred a week. He meant American dollars, but they thought +he meant pounds, so they cabled back that they'd pay one-half +that sum. He answered, `One hundred or nothing,' and they +finally assented to that, and he started; and when the first +week's remittance arrived, and he received five hundred +dollars instead of the one hundred he expected, he sent back +the difference." + +"What a remarkable young man!" exclaimed the King. "He is +much too good for daily wear. We don't want anyone like that +around here, do we?" + +"I know Mr. Gordon very well," said Miss Carson. "He lived in +San Francisco before he came East. He was always at our +house, and was a great friend of the family; wasn't he, +mother? We haven't seen him for two years now, but I know he +wouldn't spoil our plans for the sake of his paper, if he knew +we were in earnest, if he understood that everything depended +upon its being kept a secret." + +"We are not certain that he knows anything," the King urged. +"He may not have come here to see us. I think Father Paul +should talk with him first." + +"I was going to suggest," said Miss Carson, with some +hesitation, "that if I spoke to him I might be able to put it +to him in such a way that he would see how necessary it----" + +"Oh, excellent!" exclaimed the King, eagerly, and rising to +his feet; "if you only would be so kind, Miss Carson." + +Kalonay, misunderstanding the situation altogether, fastened +his eyes upon the table and did not speak. + +"He has not come to see you, Patricia," said Mrs. Carson, +quietly. + +"He does not know that I am here," Miss Carson answered; "but +I'm sure if he did he would be very glad to see us again. And +if we do see him we can make him promise not to do anything +that might interfere with our plans. Won't you let me speak +to him, mother?" + +Mrs. Carson turned uncertainly to the priest for direction, +and his glance apparently reassured her, for she rose, though +still with a troubled countenance, and the two women left the +room together, the men standing regarding each other anxiously +across the table. When they had gone the King lit a cigarette +and, turning his back on his companions, puffed at it +nervously in silence. Kalonay sat moodily studying the +pattern on the plate before him, and the others whispered +together at the farther end of the table. + +When Miss Carson and her mother stepped out upon the terrace, +the American was standing with his back toward them and was +speaking to the guards who sat cross-legged at the top of the +steps. They showed no sign of surprise at the fact of his +addressing them in their own tongue further than that they +answered him with a show of respect which they had not +exhibited toward those they protected. The American turned as +he heard the footsteps behind him, and, after a startled look +of astonishment, hurried toward the two women, exclaiming, +with every expression of pleasure. + +"I had no idea you were stopping here," he said, after the +first greetings were over. "I thought you were somewhere on +the Continent. I am so glad I caught you. It seems centuries +since I saw you last. You're looking very well, Mrs. +Carson--and as for Patty--I am almost afraid of her--I've been +hearing all sorts of things about you lately, Patty," he went +on, turning a smiling countenance toward the girl. "About +your engagements to princes and dukes--all sorts of disturbing +rumors. What a terrible swell you've grown to be. I hardly +recognize you at all, Mrs. Carson. It isn't possible this is +the same young girl I used to take buggy riding on Sunday +evenings?" + +"Indeed, it is not. I wish it were," said Mrs. Carson, +plaintively, sinking into a chair. "I'm glad to see you're +not changed, Archie," she added, with a sigh. + +"Why, he's very much changed, mother," the girl said. "He's +taller, and, in comparison with what he was, he's almost +wasted away, and so sunburned I hardly knew him. Except round +the forehead," she added, mockingly, "and I suppose the sun +couldn't burn there because of the laurel-wreaths. I hear +they bring them to you fresh every morning." + +"They're better than coronets, at any rate," Gordon answered, +with a nod. "They're not so common. And if I'm wasted away, +can you wonder? How long has it been since I saw you, Patty?" + +"No, I'm wrong, he's not changed," Miss Carson said dryly, as +she seated herself beside her mother. + +"How do you two come to be stopping here?" the young man +asked. "I thought this hotel had been turned over to King +Louis?" + +"It has," Mrs. Carson answered. "We are staying at the +Continental, on the hill there. We are only here for +breakfast. He asked us to breakfast." + +"He?" repeated Gordon, with an incredulous smile. "Who? Not +the King--not that blackguard?" + +Miss Carson raised her head, and stared at him in silence, and +her mother gave a little gasp, apparently of relief and +satisfaction. + +"Yes," Miss Carson answered at last, coldly. "We are +breakfasting with him. What do you know against him?" + +Gordon stared at her with such genuine astonishment that the +girl lowered her eyes, and, bending forward in her chair, +twirled her parasol nervously between her fingers. + +"What do I know against him? Why, Patty!" he exclaimed. "How +did you meet him, in Heaven's name?" he asked, roughly. "Have +you been seen with him? Have you known him long? Who had the +impudence to present him?" + +Mrs. Carson looked up, now thoroughly alarmed. Her lower lip +was trembling, and she twisted her gloved hands together in +her lap. + +"What do you know against him?" Miss Carson repeated, meeting +Gordon's look with one as full of surprise as his own. + +The young man regarded her steadily for a few moments, and +then, with a change of manner, as though he now saw the +situation was much more serious than he had at first supposed, +drew up a chair in front of the two women and seated himself +deliberately. + +"Has he borrowed any money from you yet?" he asked. Miss +Carson's face flushed crimson and she straightened her +shoulders and turned her eyes away from Gordon with every sign +of indignation and disapproval. The young man gave an +exclamation of relief. + +"No? That's good. You cannot have known him so very long. I +am greatly relieved." + +"Louis of Messina," he began more gently, "is the most +unscrupulous rascal in Europe. Since they turned him out of +his kingdom he has lived by selling his title to men who are +promoting new brands of champagne or floating queer mining +shares. The greater part of his income is dependent on the +generosity of the old nobility of Messina, and when they don't +pay him readily enough, he levies blackmail on them. He owes +money to every tailor and horse-dealer and hotel-keeper in +Europe, and no one who can tell one card from another will +play with him. That is his reputation. And to help him live +up to it he has surrounded himself with a parcel of +adventurers as rascally as himself: a Colonel Erhaupt who was +dropped from a German regiment, and who is a Colonel only by +the favor of the Queen of Madagascar; a retired croupier named +Barrat; and a fallen angel called Kalonay, a fellow of the +very best blood in Europe and with the very worst morals. +They call him the King's jackal, and he is one of the most +delightful blackguards I ever met. So is the King for that +matter, a most entertaining individual if you keep him in his +place, but a man no woman can know. In fact, Mrs. Carson," +Gordon went on, addressing himself to the mother, "when you +have to say that a woman has absolutely no reputation whatever +you can best express it by explaining that she has a title +from Louis of Messina. That is his Majesty's way of treating +his feminine friends when they bore him and he wants to get +rid of them. He gives them a title. + +"The only thing the man ever did that was to his credit and +that could be discussed in polite society is what he is doing +now at this place, at this moment. For it seems," Gordon +whispered, drawing his chair closer, "that he is about to show +himself something of a man after all, and that he is engaged +in fitting out an armed expedition with which he hopes to +recover his kingdom. That's what brought me here, and I must +say I rather admire him for attempting such a thing. Of +course, it was Kalonay who put him up to it; he would never +have stirred from the boulevards if that young man had not +made him. But he is here, nevertheless, waiting for a +favorable opportunity to sail, and he has ten thousand rifles +and three Maxim guns lying in his yacht out there in the +harbor. That's how I came to learn about it. I was getting +an estimate on an outfit I was thinking of taking into Yucatan +from my old gunsmith in the Rue Scribe, and he dropped a hint +that he had shipped ten thousand rifles to Tangier, to Colonel +Erhaupt. I have met Erhaupt in Zanzibar, and knew he was the +King's right-hand man, so I put two and two together and +decided I would follow them up, and----" + +"Yes, and now," interrupted Miss Carson, sharply--"and now +that you have followed them up, what do you mean to do?" + +Gordon looked his surprise at her earnestness, but answered +that he did not know what he would do; he thought he would +either ask them to give him a commission in their expedition, +and let him help them fight, and write an account of their +adventures later, or he would telegraph the story at once to +his paper. It was with him, he said, entirely a question as +to which course would be of the greater news value. If he +told what he now knew, his paper would be the first of all +others to, inform the world of the expedition and the proposed +revolution; while if he volunteered for the expedition and +waited until it had failed or succeeded, he would be able to +tell more eventually, but would have to share it with other +correspondents. + +Miss Carson regarded him with an expression in which +indignation and entreaty were curiously blended. + +"Archie," she said, in a low voice, "you do not know what you +are doing or saying. You are threatening to spoil the one +thing in my life on which I have set my heart. The return of +this man to his throne, whether he is worthy or not, means the +restoration of the Catholic Church on that island; it means +the return of the monks and the rebuilding of the monasteries, +and the salvation of sixty thousand souls. I know all that +they mean to do. I am the one who paid for those rifles that +brought you here; you have told me only what I have known for +months, and for which I have been earnestly working and +praying. I am not blinded by these men. They are not the +creatures you describe; but no matter what they may be, it is +only through them, and through them alone, that I can do what +I have set out to do." + +Gordon silenced her with a sweep of his hand. "Do you mean to +tell me," he demanded, "that you are mixed up in this--with +these--that they have taken money from you, and told you they +meant to use it to re-establish the Church? Mrs. Carson," he +exclaimed, bitterly, turning upon her, "why have you allowed +this--what have you been doing while this was going on? Do +you suppose those scoundrels care for the Church--the Church, +indeed! Wait until I see them--any of them--Erhaupt by +choice, and I'll make them give up every franc you've lent +them, or I'll horsewhip and expose them for the gang of +welshers and thimble-riggers they are; or if they prefer their +own methods, I'll call them out in rotation and shoot their +arms and legs off." He stopped and drew a long breath, either +of content that he had discovered the situation in time to +take some part in it, or at the prospect of a fight. + +"The idea of you two helpless females wandering into this den +of wolves!" he exclaimed, indignantly. "It's about time you +had a man to look after you! You go back to your hotel now, +and let me have a chat with Louis of Messina. He's kept me +waiting some twenty minutes as it is, and that's a little +longer than I can give him. I'm not a creditor." He rose +from his chair; but Miss Carson put out her hand and motioned +him to be seated. + +"Archie," she said, "I like the way you take this, even though +you are all wrong about it, because it's just like you to fly +into a passion and want to fight someone for somebody. If +your conclusions were anywhere near the truth, you would be +acting very well. But they are not. The King is not handling +my money, nor the Prince Kalonay. It is in the keeping of +Father Paul, the Father Superior of the Dominican monks, who +is the only one of these people I know or who knows me. He is +not a swindler, too, is he, or a retired croupier? Listen to +me now, and do not fly out like that at me, or at mother. It +is not her fault. Last summer mother and I went to Messina as +tourists, and one day, when passing through a seaport town, we +saw a crowd of people on the shore, standing or kneeling by +the hundreds in a great semicircle close to the water's edge. +There was a priest preaching to them from an open boat. It +was like a scene from the New Testament, and the man, this +Father Paul, made me think of one of the disciples. I asked +them why he did not preach on the land, and they told me that +he and all of the priests had been banished from the island +six years before, and that they could only return by stealth +and dared not land except by night. When the priest had +finished speaking, I had myself rowed out to his boat, and I +talked a long time with him, and he told me of this plan to +re-establish himself and his order. I offered to help him +with my money, and he promised me a letter to Cardinal Napoli. +It reached me on my return to Rome, and through the influence +of the Cardinal I was given an audience with the Pope, and I +was encouraged to aid Father Paul as far as I could. I had +meant to build a memorial church for father, but they urged me +to give the money instead to this cause. All my dealings +until to-day have been with Father Paul alone. I have seen a +little of the Prince Kalonay because they are always together; +but he has always treated me in a way to which no one could +take exception, and he is certainly very much in earnest. +When Father Paul left Paris mother and I came on here in order +to be near him, and that is how you find me at Tangier. And +now that you understand how much this means to me, I know you +will not do anything to stand in our way. Those men inside +are afraid that you came here for just the reason that +apparently has brought you, and when they saw you a little +while ago through the windows they were greatly disturbed. +Let me tell them that you mean to volunteer for the campaign. +The King cannot refuse the services of a man who has done the +things you are always doing. And I promise you that for a +reward you shall be the only one to tell the story of our +attempt. I promise you," she repeated earnestly, "that the +day we enter the capital, you can cable whatever you please +and tell our story to the whole of Europe." + +"The story be hanged!" replied Gordon. "You have made this a +much more serious business than a newspaper story. You +misunderstand me utterly, Patty. I am here now because I am +not going to have you compromised and robbed." + +The girl stood up and looked down at the young man +indignantly. + +"You have no right whatever to use that tone to me," she said. +"I am of age and my own adviser. I am acting for the good of +a great number of people, and according to what my conscience +and common sense tell me is right. I shall hate you if you +attempt to interfere. You can do one of two things, Archie. +I give you your choice: you can either go with them as a +volunteer, and promise to keep our secret; or you can cable +what you know now, what you know only by accident, but if you +do, you will lose your best friend, and you will defeat a good +and a noble effort." + +Gordon leaned back in his chair, and looked up at her steadily +for a brief moment, and then rose with a smile, and bowed to +the two women in silence. He crossed the terrace quickly with +an amused and puzzled countenance, and walked into the +breakfast-room, from the windows of which, as he rightly +guessed, the five conspirators had for some time observed him. +He looked from one to the other of the men about the table, +until his eyes finally met those of the King. + +"I believe, sir, you are leading an expedition against the +Republic of Messina?" Gordon said. "I am afraid it can't +start unless you take me with you." + + + + +III + + +The presence in Tangier of the King of Messina and his suite, +and the arrival there of the French noblemen who had +volunteered for the expedition, could not escape the +observation of the resident Consuls-General and of the foreign +colony, and dinners, riding and hunting parties, pig-sticking, +and excursions on horseback into the outlying country were +planned for their honor and daily entertainment. Had the +conspirators held aloof from these, the residents might have +asked, since it was not to enjoy themselves, what was the +purpose of their stay in Tangier; and so, to allay suspicion +as to their real object, different members of the expedition +had been assigned from time to time to represent the visitors +at these festivities. On the morning following the return of +the yacht from Messina, an invitation to ride to a farmhouse +some miles out of Tangier and to breakfast there had been sent +to the visitors, and the King had directed the Prince Kalonay, +and half of the delegation from Paris, to accept it in his +name. + +They were well content to go, and rode forth gayly and in high +spirits, for the word had been brought them early in the +morning that the expedition was already prepared to move, and +that same evening at midnight the yacht would set sail for +Messina. They were careless as to what fortune waited for +them there. The promise of much excitement, of fighting and +of danger, of possible honor and success, stirred the hearts +of the young men gloriously, and as they galloped across the +plains, or raced each other from point to point, or halted to +jump their ponies across the many gaping crevices which the +sun had split in the surface of the plain, they filled the +still, warm air with their shouts and laughter. In the party +there were many ladies, and the groups changed and formed +again as they rode forward, spread out on either side of the +caravan-trail and covering the plain like a skirmish line of +cavalry. But Kalonay kept close at Miss Carson's stirrup, +whether she walked her pony or sent him flying across the +hard, sunbaked soil. + +"I hope you won't do that again," he said, earnestly, as she +drew up panting, with her sailor hat and hair falling to her +shoulders. They had been galloping recklessly over the open +crevices in the soil. + +"It's quite the nastiest country I ever saw," he said. "It +looks as though an earthquake had shaken it open and had +forgotten to close it again. Believe me, it is most unsafe +and dangerous. Your pony might stumble--" He stopped, as +though the possibilities were too serious for words, but the +girl laughed. + +"It's no more dangerous than riding across our prairie at dusk +when you can't see the barbed wire. You are the last person +in the world to find fault because a thing is dangerous," she +added. + +They had reached the farm, where they went to breakfast, and +the young Englishman who was their host was receiving his +guests in his garden, and the servants were passing among +them, carrying cool drinks and powdered sweets and Turkish +coffee. Kalonay gave their ponies to a servant and pointed +with his whip to an arbor that stood at one end of the garden. + +"May we sit down there a moment until they call us?" he said. +"I have news of much importance--and I may not have another +chance," he begged, looking at her wistfully. The girl stood +motionless; her eyes were serious, and she measured the +distance down the walk to the arbor as though she saw it beset +with dangers more actual than precipices and twisted wire. +The Prince watched her as though his fate was being weighed in +his presence. + +"Very well," she said at last, and moved on before him down +the garden-path. + +The arbor was open to the air with a low, broad roof of +palm-leaves that overhung it on all sides and left it in deep +shadow. Around it were many strange plants and flowers, some +native to Morocco and some transplanted from their English +home. From where they sat they could see the other guests +moving in and out among the groves of orange and olive trees +and swaying palms, and standing, outlined against the blue +sky, upon the low, flat roof of the farm-house. + +"I have dared to ask you to be so good as to give me this +moment," the Prince said humbly, "only because I am going away, +and it may be my last chance to speak with you. You do not +mind? You do not think I presume?" + +"No, I do not mind," said the girl, smiling. "In my country +we do not think it a terrible offence to talk to a girl at a +garden-party. But you said there was something of importance +you wanted to say to me. You mean the expedition?" + +"Yes," said Kalonay. "We start this evening." The girl +raised her head slightly and stared past him at the burning +white walls and the burning blue sky that lay outside the +circle of shadow in which they sat. + +"This evening--" she repeated to herself. + +"We reach there in two days," Kalonay continued; "and then +we--then we go on--until we enter the capital." + +The girl's head was bent, and she looked at her hands as they +lay in her lap and frowned at them, they seemed so white and +pretty and useless. + +"Yes, you go on," she repeated, "and we stay here. You are a +man and able to go on. I know what that means. And you like +it," she added, with a glance of mingled admiration and fear. +"You are glad to fight and to risk death and to lead men on to +kill other men." + +Kalonay drew lines in the sand with his ridingwhip, and did +not raise his head. + +"I suppose it is because you are fighting for your home," the +girl continued, "and to set your country free, and that you +can live with your own people again, and because it is a holy +war. That must be it. Now that it is really come, I see it +all differently. I see things I had not thought about before. +They frighten me," she said. + +The Prince raised his head and faced the girl, clasping the +end of his whip nervously in his hand. "If we should win the +island for the King, " he said, "I believe it will make a +great change in me. I shall be able to go freely then to my +home, as you say, to live there always, to give up the life I +have led on the Continent. It has been a foolish life--a +dog's life--and I have no one to blame for it but myself. I +made it worse than it need to have been. But if we win, I +have promised myself that I will not return to it; and if we +fall I shall not return to it, for the reason that I shall +have been killed. I shall have much power if we win. When I +say much power, I mean much power in Messina, in that little +corner of the world, and I wish to use it worthily and well. +I am afraid I should not have thought of it," he went on, +naively, as though he were trying to be quite fair, "had not +Father Paul pointed out to me what I should do, how I could +raise the people and stop the abuses which made them drive us +from the island. The people must be taxed less heavily, and +the money must be spent for them and not for us, on roads and +harbors and schools, not at the Palace on banquets and fetes. +These are Father Paul's ideas, not mine,--but now I make them +mine." He rose and paced the length of the little arbor, his +hands clasped behind him and his eyes bent on the ground. +"Yes, that is what I mean to do," he said. "That is the way I +mean to live. And if we fail, I mean to be among those who +are to die on the fortifications of the capital, so that with +me the Kalonay family will end, and end fighting for the King, +as many of my people have done before me. There is no other +way. For me there shall be no more idleness nor exile. I +must either live on to help my people, or I must die with +them." He stopped in his walk and regarded the girl closely. +"You may be thinking, it is easy for him to promise this, it +is easy to speak of what one will do. I know that. I know +that I can point back at nothing I have done that gives me any +right to ask you to believe me now. But I do ask it, for if +you believe me--believe what I say--it makes it easier for me +to tell you why after this I must live worthily. But you know +why? You must know; it is not possible that you do not know." + +He sat down beside her on the bench, leaning forward and +crushing his hands together on his knee. "It is because I +love you. Because I love you so that everything which is not +worthy is hateful to me, myself most of all. It is the only +thing that counts. I used to think I knew what love meant; I +used to think love was a selfish thing that needed love in +return, that it must be fed on love to live, that it needed +vows and tender speeches and caresses, or it would die. I +know now that when one truly cares, he does not ask whether +the other cares or not. It is what one gives that counts, not +what one receives. You have given me nothing--nothing--not a +word nor a look; yet since I have known you I have been more +madly happy in just knowing that you live than I would have +been had any other woman in all the world thrown herself into +my arms and said she loved me above all other men. I am not +fit to tell you this. But to-night I go to try myself, either +never to see you again, or to come back perhaps more worthy to +love you. Think of this when I am gone. Do not speak to me +now. I may have made you hate me for speaking so, or I may +have made you pity me; so let me go not knowing, just loving +you, worshipping you, and holding you apart and above all +other people. I go to fight for you, do you understand? Not +for our Church, not for my people, but for you, to live or die +for you. And I ask nothing from you but that you will let me +love you always." + +The Prince bent, and catching up Miss Carson's riding-gloves +that lay beside her on the bench, kissed them again and again, +and then, rising quickly, walked out of the arbor into the +white sunshine, and, without turning, mounted his pony and +galloped across the burning desert in the direction of +Tangier. + +Archie Gordon had not been invited to join the excursion into +the country, nor would he have accepted it, for he wished to +be by himself that he might review the situation and consider +what lay before him. He sat with his long legs dangling over +the broad rampart which overlooks the harbor of Tangier. He +was whistling meditatively to himself and beating an +accompaniment to the tune with his heels. At intervals he +ceased whistling while he placed a cigar between his teeth and +pulled upon it thoughtfully, resuming his tune again at the +point where it had been interrupted. Below him the waves ran +up lazily on the level beach and sank again, dragging the long +sea-weed with them, as they swept against the sharp rocks, and +exposed them for an instant, naked and glistening in the sun. +On either side of him the town stretched to meet the low, +white, sand-hills in a crescent of low, white houses pierced +by green minarets and royal palms. A warm sun had sent the +world to sleep at mid-day, and an enforced peace hung over the +glaring white town and the sparkling blue sea. Gordon blinked +at the glare, but his eyes showed no signs of drowsiness. +They were, on the contrary, awake to all that passed on the +high road behind him, and on the sandy beach at his feet, +while at the same time his mind was busily occupied in +reviewing what had occurred the day before, and in adjusting +new conditions. At the hotel he had found that the situation +was becoming too complicated, and that it was impossible to +feel sure of the truth of anything, or of the sincerity of +anyone. Since the luncheon hour the day before he had become +a fellow-conspirator with men who were as objectionable to him +in every way as he knew he was obnoxious to them. But they +had been forced to accept him because, so they supposed, he +had them at the mercy of his own pleasure. He knew their +secret, and in the legitimate pursuit of his profession he +could, if he chose, inform the island of Messina, with the +rest of the world, of their intention toward it, and bring +their expedition to an end, though he had chosen, as a reward +for his silence, to become one of themselves. Only the +Countess Zara had guessed the truth, that it was Gordon +himself who was at their mercy, and that so long as the +American girl persisted in casting her fortunes with them her +old young friend was only too eager to make any arrangement +with them that would keep him at her side. + +It was a perplexing position, and Gordon turned it over and +over in his mind. Had it not been that Miss Carson had a part +in it he would have enjoyed the adventure, as an adventure, +keenly. He had no objections to fighting on the side of +rascals, or against rascals. He objected to them only in the +calmer moments of private life; and as he was of course +ignorant that the expedition was only a make-believe, he felt +a certain respect for his fellow-conspirators as men who were +willing to stake their lives for a chance of better fortune. +But that their bravery was of the kind which would make them +hesitate to rob and deceive a helpless girl he very much +doubted; for he knew that even the bravest of warriors on +their way to battle will requisition a herd of cattle or stop +to loot a temple. The day before, Gordon had witnessed the +brief ceremony which attended the presentation of the young +noblemen from Paris who had volunteered for the expedition in +all good faith, and he reviewed it and analyzed it as he sat +smoking on the ramparts. + +It had been an impressive ceremony, in spite of the fact that +so few had taken part in it, but the earnestness of the +visitors and the enthusiasm of Kalonay and the priest had made +up for the lack of numbers. The scene had appealed to him as +one of the most dramatic he had witnessed in the pursuit of a +calling in which looking on at real dramas was the most +frequent duty, and he had enjoyed the strange mixture of +ancient terms of address and titles with the modern manners of +the men themselves. It had interested him to watch Baron +Barrat bring out the ancient crown and jewelled sceptre which +had been the regalia of all the Kings of Messina since the +Crusades and spread them out upon a wicker tea-table, from +which Niccolas had just removed some empty coffee-cups, half +filled with the ends of cigarettes, some yellow-backed novels, +and a copy of the Paris Figaro. It was also interesting to +him to note how the sight of the little heir-apparent affected +both the peasants from the mountains and the young nobles from +the Club Royale. The former fell upon their knees with the +tears rolling down the furrows in their tanned cheeks, while +the little wise-eyed boy stood clinging to his nurse's skirts +with one hand and to his father's finger with the other, and +nodded his head at them gravely like a toy mandarin. + +Then the King had addressed them in a dignifled, earnest, and +almost eloquent speech, and had promised much and prophesied +the best of fortunes, and then, at the last, had turned +suddenly toward Miss Carson, where she stood in the background +between her mother and Father Paul. + +"Every cause has its Joan of Arc, or its Maria Theresa," he +cried, looking steadfastly at Miss Carson. "No cause has +succeeded without some good woman to aid it. To help us, my +friends, we have a daughter of the people, as was Joan of Arc, +and a queen, as was Maria Theresa, for she comes from that +country where every woman is a queen in her own right, and +where the love of liberty is inherent." The King took a quick +step backward, and taking Miss Carson's hand drew her forward +beside him and placed her facing his audience, while the girl +made vain efforts to withdraw her hand. "This is she," he +said earnestly, "the true daughter of the Church who has made +it possible for us to return to our own again. It is due to +her that the King of Messina shall sit once more on his +throne; it is through her generosity alone that the churches +will rise from their ruins and that you will once again hear +the Angelus ring across the fields at sunset. Remember her, +my friends and cousins, pray for her as a saint upon earth, +and fight gloriously to help her to success!" + +Gordon had restrained himself with difficulty while this scene +was being enacted; he could not bear the thought of the King +touching the girl's hand. He struggled to prevent himself +from crying out at the false position into which he had +dragged her; and yet there was something so admirably sincere +in the King's words, something so courteous and manly, that it +robbed his words of all the theatrical effect they held, and +his tribute to the girl filled even Gordon with an emotion +which on the part of the young nobles found expression in +cheer upon cheer. + +Gordon recalled these cheers and the looks of wondering +admiration which had been turned upon Miss Carson, and he grew +so hot at the recollection that he struck the wall beside him +savagely with his clinched fist, and damned the obstinacy of +his young and beautiful friend with a sincerity and vigor that +was the highest expression of his interest in her behalf. + +He threw his cigar into the rampart at his feet and dropped +back into the high road. It was deserted at the time, except +for the presence of a tall, slightly built stranger, who +advanced toward him from the city gates. The man was dressed +in garments of European fashion and carried himself like a +soldier, and Gordon put him down at a glance as one of the +volunteers from Paris. The stranger was walking leisurely, +stopping to gaze at the feluccas in the bay, and then turning +to look up at the fortress on the hill. He seemed to have no +purpose in his walk except the interest of a tourist, and as +he drew up even with Gordon he raised his helmet politely and, +greeting him in English, asked if he were on the right road to +the Bashaw's Palace. Gordon pointed to where the white walls +of the palace rose above the other white walls about it. + +"That is it," he said. "All the roads lead to it. You keep +going up hill." + +"Thank you," said the stranger. "I see I have taken a long +way." He put his white umbrella in the sand, and, removing +his helmet, mopped his forehead with his handkerchief. "It is +a curious old town, Tangier," he said, affably, "but too many +hills, is it not so? Algiers I like better. There is more +life." + +"Yes, Algiers is almost as good as the boulevards," Gordon +assented, "if you like the boulevards. I prefer this place +because it is unspoiled. But, as you say, there is not much +to do here." + +The stranger's eyes fell upon the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which +stood a quarter of a mile away from them on the beach. + +"That is the Hotel Bretagne, is it not?" he asked. Gordon +answered him with a nod. + +"The King Louis of Messina, so the chasseur at the hotel tells +me, is stopping there en suite," the stranger added, with an +interrogative air of one who volunteers an interesting fact, +and who asks if it is true at the same moment. + +"I can't say, I'm sure," Gordon replied. "I only arrived here +yesterday." + +The stranger bowed his head in recognition of this piece of +personal information, and, putting on his helmet, picked up +his umbrella as though to continue his stroll. As he did so +his eyes wandered over the harbor and were arrested with +apparent interest by the yacht, which lay a conspicuous object +on the blue water. He pointed at it with his umbrella. + +"One of your English men-of-war is in the harbor, I see. She +is very pretty, but not large; not so large as many," he said. + +Gordon turned his head obligingly and gazed at the yacht with +polite interest. "Is that a man-of-war? I thought it was a +yacht," he said. "I'm not familiar with the English +war-vessels. I am an American." + +"Ah, indeed!" commented the affable stranger. "I am French +myself, but I think she is a man-of-war. I saw her guns when +I passed on the steamer from Gibraltar." + +Gordon knew that the steamer did not pass within half a mile +of where the yacht lay at anchor, but he considered it might +be possible to see her decks with the aid of a glass. + +"You may be right," he answered, indifferently. As he turned +his eyes from the boat he saw a woman, dressed in white, and +carrying a parasol, leave the gardens of the Hotel Bretagne, +and come toward them along the beach. The Frenchman, +following the direction of his eyes, saw her also, and +regarded her instantly with such evident concern that Gordon, +who had recognized her even at that distance as the Countess +Zara, felt assured that his inquisitor held, as he had already +suspected, more than a tourist's interest in Tangier. + +"Well, I will wish you a good-morning," said the Frenchman, +hurriedly. + +"Good-morning," Gordon replied, and taking a cigar from his +case, he seated himself again upon the rampart. As he walked +away the stranger glanced back over his shoulder, but Gordon +was apparently absorbed in watching the waves below him, and +had lost all interest in his chance acquaintance. But he +watched both the woman and the Frenchman as they advanced +slowly from opposite directions and drew nearer together, and +he was not altogether surprised, when the in man was within +twenty feet of her, to see her start and stand still, and +then, with the indecision of a hunted animal, move +uncertainly, and then turn and run in the direction of the +hotel. Something the man apparently called after her caused +her to stop, and Gordon observed them now with undisguised +interest as they stood conversing together, oblivious of the +conspicuous mark they made on the broad white beach under the +brilliant sun. + +"I wonder what he's up to now?" Gordon mused. "He was trying +to pump me, that's evident, and he certainly recognized the +lady, and she apparently did not want to recognize him. I +wonder if he is a rejected lover, or another conspirator. +This is a most amusing place, nothing but plots and +counterplots and--Hello!" he exclaimed aloud. The man had +moved quickly past Madame Zara, and had started toward the +hotel, and Zara had held out her hand to him, as though to +entreat him to remain. But he did not stop, and she had taken +a few uncertain steps after him, and had then, much to the +American's dismay, fallen limply on her back on the soft sand. +She was not a hundred yards distant from where he sat, and in +an instant he had slipped from the wall, and dropped on his +hands and knees on the beach below. When Gordon reached her +the Frenchman had returned, and was supporting her head on his +knee and covering her head with her parasol. + +"The lady has fainted!" he exclaimed, eagerly. His manner was +no longer one of idle indolence. He was wide awake now and +visibly excited. + +"The sun has been too much for her," he said. "It is most +dangerous walking about at this time of day." + +Gordon ran down the beach and scooped up some water in his +helmet, and dipping his handkerchief in it bathed her temples +and cheek. He had time to note that she was a very beautiful +girl, and the pallor of her face gave it a touch of gentleness +that he had not seen there before. + +"I will go to the hotel and bring assistance, said the +stranger, uneasily, as the woman showed signs of regaining +consciousness. + +"No," said Gordon, "you'll stay where you are and shade her +with her umbrella. She'll be all right in a minute." + +The girl opened her eyes, and looking up saw Gordon bending +over her. She regarded him for a moment and made an effort to +rise, and in her endeavor to do so her eyes met those of the +Frenchman, and with a sharp moan she shut them again and threw +herself from Gordon's knee to the sand. + +"Give me that umbrella," said Gordon, "and go stand over there +out of the way." + +The man rose from his knee without showing any resentment and +walked some little distance away, where he stood with his arms +folded, looking out to sea. He seemed much too occupied with +something of personal interest to concern himself with a +woman's fainting-spell. The girl lifted herself slowly to her +elbow, and then, before Gordon could assist her, rose with a +quick, graceful movement and stood erect upon her feet. She +placed a detaining hand for an instant on the American's arm. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "I am afraid I have been +imprudent in going out into the sun." Her eyes were fixed +upon the Frenchman, who stood moodily staring at the sea and +tearing one of his finger-nails with his teeth. He seemed +utterly oblivious of their presence. The girl held out her +hand for the parasol she had dropped and took it from Gordon +with a bow. + +"May I walk back with you to your hotel?" he asked. "Unless +this gentleman----" + +"Thank you," the girl said, in tones which the Frenchman could +have easily overheard had he been listening. "I am quite able +to go alone now; it is only a step." + +She was still regarding the Frenchman closely; but as he was +obviously unconscious of them she moved so that Gordon hid her +from him, and in an entirely different voice she said, +speaking rapidly,-- + +"You are Mr. Gordon, the American who joined us last night. +That man is a spy from Messina. He is Renauld, the +Commander-in-Chief of their army. He must be gotten away from +here at once. It is a matter for a man to attend to. Will +you do it?" + +"How do you know this?" Gordon asked. "How do you know he is +General Renauld? I want to be certain." + +The girl tossed her head impatiently. + +"He was pointed out to me at Messina. I saw him there in +command at a review. He has just spoken to me--that was what +frightened me into that fainting-spell. I didn't think I was +so weak," she said, shaking her head. "He offered me a bribe +to inform him of our plans. I tell you he is a spy." + +"That's all right," said Gordon, reassuringly; "you go back to +the hotel now and send those guards here on a run. I'll make +a charge against him and have him locked up until after we +sail to-night. Hurry, please; I'll stay here." + +Gordon felt a pleasurable glow of excitement. It was his +nature to throw himself into everything he did and to at once +become a partisan. It was a quality which made his writings +attractive to the reader, and an object of concern to his +editor. At the very word "spy," and at this first hint of +opposition to the cause in which he had but just enlisted, he +thrilled as though it had always been his own, and he regarded +the Frenchman with a personal dislike as sudden as it was +unfounded. + +The Frenchman had turned and was walking in the direction of +the city gate. His eyes were bent on the sandy beach which +stretched before him, and he made his way utterly unmindful of +the waves that stole up to his feet and left little pools of +water in his path. Gordon beckoned impatiently to the two +soldiers who came running toward him at the hotel, and moved +forward to meet them the sooner. He took one of them by the +wrist and pointed with his other hand at the retreating figure +of the Frenchman. + +"That man," he said, "is one of the King's enemies. The King +is in danger while that man is here. Your duty is to protect +the King, so he gives this foreigner into your charge." + +The soldier nodded his head in assent. "The King himself sent +us," he replied. + +"You will place him in the Civil Prison," Gordon continued, +"until the King is safe on his yacht, and you will not allow +him to send for the French Consul-General. If he sees the +Consul-General he will tell him a great many lies about you, +and a great war-ship will come and your Bashaw will be forced +to pay the foreigners much money. I will go with you and tell +this man in his own tongue what you are going to do with him." + +They walked hurriedly after the Frenchman, and when they had +overtaken him Gordon halted and bowed. + +"One moment, please," he said. "These soldiers have an order +for your arrest. I speak the language, and if you have +anything to say to them I will interpret for you." + +The Frenchman stared from Gordon to the guards and then +laughed incredulously but with no great confidence. He had +much to say, but he demanded to know first why he should be +arrested. + +"The lady you insulted," Gordon answered, gravely, "happened, +unfortunately for you, to be one of the King's guests. She +has complained to him, and he has sent these soldiers to put +you where you cannot trouble her again. You see, sir, you +cannot annoy women with impunity even in this barbarous +country." + +"Insult her! I did not insult her," the man retorted. "That +is not the reason I am arrested." + +"You annoyed her so much that she fainted. I saw you," said +Gordon, backing away with the evident purpose of abandoning +the foreigner to his guards. + +"She has lied," the man cried, "either to the King or to me. +I do not know which, but I am here to find out. That is why I +came to Tangier, and I intend to learn the truth." + +"You've begun rather badly," Gordon answered, as he still +retreated. "In the Civil Prison your field of investigation +will be limited." + +The Frenchman took a hasty step toward him, shrugging off the +hand one of the soldiers had placed on his shoulder. + +"Are you the Prince Kalonay, sir?" he demanded. "But surely +not," he added. + +"No, I am not the Prince," Gordon answered. "I bid you +good-morning, sir." + +"Then you are on the other side," the man called after him +eagerly, with a tone of great relief. "I have been right from +the very first. I see it plainly. It is a double plot, and +you are one of that woman's dupes. Listen to me--I beg of +you, listen to me--I have a story to tell." + +Gordon paused and looked back at the man over his shoulder, +doubtfully. + +"It's like the Arabian Nights," he said, with a puzzled smile. +"There was once a rich merchant of Bagdad and the Sultan was +going to execute him, but they put off the execution until he +could tell them the story of the Beautiful Countess and the +French Envoy. I am sorry," he added, shaking his head, "but I +cannot listen now. I must not be seen talking to you at all, +and everyone can see us here." + +They were as conspicuous figures on the flat surface of the +beach as two palms in a desert, and Gordon was most anxious to +escape, for he was conscious that he could be observed from +every point in the town. A hundred yards away, on the terrace +of the hotel, he saw the King, Madame Zara, Barrat, and +Erhaupt standing together watching them. + +"If the American leaves him now, we are safe," the King was +saying. He spoke in a whisper, as though he feared that even +at that distance Gordon and the Frenchman could overhear his +words. "But if he remains with him he will find out the +truth, and that means ruin. He will ruin us." + +"Look, he is coming this way," Zara answered. "He is leaving +him. The danger is past." + +The Frenchman raised his eyes and saw the four figures grouped +closely together on the terrace. + +"See, what did I tell you?" he cried. "She is with the King +now. It is a plot within a plot, and I believe you know it," +he added, furiously. "You are one of these brave blackmailers +yourself--that is why you will not let me speak." + +"Blackmailers!" said Gordon. "Confound your impudence, what +the devil do you mean by that?" + +But the Frenchman was staring angrily at the distant group on +the terrace, and Gordon turned his eyes in the same direction. +Something he saw in the strained and eager attitude of the +four conspirators moved him to a sudden determination. + +"That will do, you must go," he commanded, pointing with his +arm toward the city gate; and before the Frenchman could +reply, he gave an order to the guards, and they seized the +foreigner roughly by either arm and hurried him away. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the King, piously. "They have +separated, and the boy thinks he is rendering us great +service. Well, and so he is, the young fool." + +The group on the piazza remained motionless, watching Gordon +as he leisurely lit a cigar and stood looking out at the +harbor until the Frenchman had disappeared inside the city +wall. Then he turned and walked slowly after him. + +"I do not like that. I do not like his following him," said +Barrat, suspiciously. + +"That is nothing," answered the King. "He is going to play +the spy and see that the man is safely in jail. Then he will +return and report to us. We must congratulate him warmly. He +follows at a discreet distance, you observe, and keeps himself +well out of sight. The boy knows better than to compromise +himself by being seen in conversation with the man. Of +course, if Renauld is set free we must say we had no part in +his arrest, that the American made the arrest on his own +authority. What a convenient tool the young man is. Why, his +coming really frightened us at first, and now--now we make a +cat's-paw of him." The King laughed merrily. "We undervalue +ourselves sometimes, do we not?" + +"He is a nice boy," said Zara. "I feel rather sorry for him. +He looked so anxious and distressed when I was so silly as to +faint on the beach just now. He handled me as tenderly as a +woman would have done--not that women have generally handled +me tenderly," she added. + +"I was thinking the simile was rather misplaced," said the +King. + + +Gordon passed the city wall and heard the gates swing to +behind him. The Frenchman and his two captors were just +ahead, toiling heavily up the steep and narrow street. Gordon +threw his cigar from him and ran leaping over the huge cobbles +to the Frenchman's side and touched him on the shoulder. + +"We are out of sight of the hotel, now, General," he said. He +pointed to the dark, cool recesses of a coffee-shop and held +back the rug that hung before it. "Come in here," he said, +"and tell me that story." + + + +IV + + +Baron Barrat was suspicious by education--his experience of +life and his own conduct had tended to render him so; and +accordingly when, three hours after he had seen Gordon +apparently commit the French officer to jail, he found them +leaving a cafe in the most friendly and amicable spirit, he +wasted no time in investigation, but hurried at once to warn +the King. + +"What we feared would happen, has happened," he said. "The +Frenchman has told Gordon that Zara and Kalonay sold the +secret of the expedition, and Gordon will be coming here to +warn you of it. Now, what are you going to do? We must act +quickly." + +"I shall refuse to believe the Frenchman, of course," said the +King. "I shall ask Zara in his presence to answer his +charges, and she will tell him he lies. That is all there +will be of it. What does it matter what he says? We sail at +midnight. We can keep him quiet until then." + +"If he is troublesome I can call for help from this room, and +the servants of the hotel and the guards will rush in and find +us struggling together. We will charge him with an attempt at +assassination, and this time he surely will go to jail. By +to-morrow morning we shall be many miles at sea." + +"But he can cable to Messina, by way of Gibraltar, and head us +off," objected Barrat. + +"What can he cable?" demanded the King. "Nothing the people +of the Republic do not already know. It is our friends here +that must not find us out. That is the main thing. Thank +Heaven!" he exclaimed, "Kalonay and Paul are out of the way, +and those crazy boys from Paris. We will settle it here among +ourselves in five minutes." + +"And the American?" asked Zara. "He knows, he will come with +him. Suppose he believes, suppose he believes that Kalonay +and I have sold you out, but suspects that you know it?" + +"The American can go to the devil," said the King. "Confound +him and his insolence. I'll have him in the prison too, if he +interferes. Or Erhaupt can pick a quarrel with him here and +fight it out behind the sand-hills before the others get back +from their picnic. He has done as much for me before." + +Zara stood up. She was trembling slightly, and she glanced +fearfully from Erhaupt to the King. + +"You will not do that," she said. + +"And why not, madame?" demanded Louis. + +"Because it will be murder," Zara whispered. "He will murder +him as he did that boy in the Park at Pesth." + +"What does the woman mean?" growled the German. "Is she mad? +Send her to her room, Louis." + +"You know what I mean," Zara answered, her voice rising, in +her excitement. "You fired before they gave the word. I know +you did. Oh, Louis," she cried, "you never warned me it might +come to this. I am afraid. I am afraid to meet that man----" + +She gave a sudden cry. "And Kalonay!" She held out her hands +appealingly. "Indeed," she cried, "do not let Kalonay +question me." + +"Silence!" commanded the King. "You are acting like a fool." +He advanced toward her, and clasped her wrist firmly in his +hand. "No nerves, now," he said. "I'll not have it. You +shall meet Kalonay, and you shall swear that he is in the plot +against me. If you fail us now, we are ruined. As it is, we +are sure to lose the bribe from the Republic, but we may still +get Miss Carson's money if you play your part. It is your +word and the word of the Frenchman against Kalonay's. +And we have the paper signed by you for Kalonay as evidence. +Have you got it with you?" + +Zara bowed her head. "It is always with me," she answered. + +"Good," said the King. "It will be a difficult chance, but if +you stand to your story, and we pretend to believe you, the +others may believe you, too." + +"But I cannot," Zara cried. "I know I cannot. I tell you if +you put me face to face with Kalonay, I shall fail you. I +shall break down. They will see that I am lying. Send me +away. Send me away before they come. Tell them I saw the +Frenchman, and suspected I had been found out, and that I have +gone away. Tell them you don't know where I am." + +"I believe she's right," Erhaupt said. "She will do us more +harm than good. Let her go to her room and wait there." + +"She will remain where she is," said the King, sternly. "And +she will keep her courage and her wits about her, or----" + +He was interrupted by an exclamation from Barrat. "Whatever +you mean to do, you must do it at once," he said, grimly. He +was standing at the window which overlooked the beach. "Here +they come now," he continued. "The American has taken no +chances, he is bringing an audience with him." + +The King and Erhaupt ran to the window, and peered over +Barrat's shoulder. + +Advancing toward them along the beach, some on foot, and some +on horseback, were all the members of the expedition, those +who had been of the riding-party and those who had remained in +Tangier. Gordon and the Frenchman Renauld were far in the +lead, walking by themselves and speaking earnestly together; +Father Paul was walking with Mrs. Carson and her daughter, and +Kalonay was riding with two of the volunteers, the Count de +Rouen and Prince Henri of Poitiers. + +When the King and Erhaupt turned from the window the Countess +Zara had disappeared. "It is better so," said Erhaupt; "she +was so badly frightened she would have told the truth." + +The King stood leaning on the back of a large arm-chair. +"Well, the moment has come, it is our last chance," he said. +"Send for the Crown Prince, Baron. I shall be discovered in +the act of taking a tender farewell of my son." + +Barrat made an eager gesture of dissent. + +"I would not do that," he cried. "If we are to make charges +against the jackal do not have the boy present; the boy must +not hear them. You know how Kalonay worships the child, and +it would enrage him more to be exposed before the Prince than +before all the rest of the world. He will be hard enough to +handle without that. Don't try him too far." + +"You are absurd, Barrat," exclaimed the King. "The boy won't +understand what is said." + +"No, but the Jackal will," Barrat returned. "You don't +understand him, Louis, he is like a woman; he has sentiment +and feelings, and when we all turn on him he will act like a +madman. Keep the boy out of his sight, I tell you. It's the +only thing he cares for in the world. He has been a better +father to him than you ever have been." + +"That was quite natural; that was because it was his duty," +said the King, calmly. "A Kalonay has always been the +protector and tutor of the heir-apparent. If this one chooses +to give his heart with his service, that is not my concern. +Why, confound them, they all think more of the child than they +do of me. That is why I need him by me now." + +Barrat shook his head. "I tell you it will make trouble, he +persisted. "Kalonay will not stand it. He and the child are +more like comrades than a tutor and his pupil. Why, Kalonay +would rather sit with the boy in the Champs-Elysees and point +out the people as they go by than drive at the side of the +prettiest woman in Paris. He always treats him as though he +saw the invisible crown upon his head; he will throw over any +of us to stay in the nursery and play tin soldiers with him. +And when he was ill--" Barrat nodded his head significantly. +"You remember." + +"That will do," said the King. "We have no time to consider +the finer feelings of the jackal; he is to be sacrificed, and +that is all there is of it. The prsence of the child may make +him more unmanageable, but it will certainly make it easier +for me. So go, bring the boy here as I bid you." + +Barrat left the room and returned immediately, followed by the +Crown Prince and his nurse. The Prince was a dark, handsome +little fellow of four years. His mother had died when he was +born, and he had never played with children of his own age, +and his face was absurdly wise and wistful; but it lighted +with a sweet and grateful smile when anyone showed him +kindness or sought to arouse his interest. To the Crown +Prince Kalonay was an awful and wonderful being. He was the +one person who could make him laugh out of pure happiness and +for no reason, as a child should laugh. And people who had +seen them together asked which of the princes was the older of +the two. When the child entered the room, clinging to +Barrat's finger, he carried in his other hand a wooden spade +and bucket, still damp with sand, and he was dressed in a +shabby blue sailor suit which left his little legs bare, and +exposed the scratches and bruises of many falls. A few +moments later, when the conspirators entered the King's salon, +preceded by Erhaupt, they found the boy standing by his +father's knee. The King had his hand upon the child's head, +and had been interrupted apparently in a discourse on the +dignity of kingship, for the royal crown of Messina had been +brought out and stood beside him on the table, and his other +hand rested on it reverently. It was an effective tableau, +and the visitors observed it with varying emotions, but with +silence. + +The King rose, taking his son's hand in his, and bowed, +looking inquiringly from Barrat to the Prince Kalonay. + +"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked. "Was +it discreet of you to come together in this way? But you are +most welcome. Place chairs for the ladies, Barrat." + +Kalonay glanced at the others, and they nodded to him as +though to make him their spokesman. He pointed at Gordon with +his cap. + +"We are here on the invitation of this gentleman, your +Majesty," he said. "He took it upon himself to send after +those of us who had gone into the country, and came in person +for the others who remained in town. He tells us he has news +of the greatest importance to communicate, which he cannot +disclose except to you, and in the presence of all of those +who are to take part in the expedition. We decided to +accompany him here, as he asked us, and to leave it to your +Majesty to say whether or not you wished us to remain." +Kalonay smiled in apology at the King, and the King answered +him with a smile. + +"The procedure is perhaps unconventional," the King said, "but +in America they move quickly. No doubt our young companion +has acted as he thought was for the best. If he has taken a +liberty, the nature of his news will probably excuse him. +Perhaps, Mr. Gordon," he added, turning to the American, "you +had better first tell me what this discovery is, and I will +decide whether it is best to discuss it in open council." + +Gordon did not appear to be the least disturbed by the +criticism Kalonay and the King had passed upon his conduct. +He only smiled pleasantly when the King had finished speaking, +and showed no inclination to accept a private audience. + +"What I have to say, your Majesty," he began, "is this. I +have learned that all the secrets of your expedition have been +sold to the Republic of Messina. One of those now present in +this room is charged with having sold them. Shall I go on," +he asked, "or do you still think it advisable for anyone to +leave the room. + +He paused and glanced from the King to the double row of +conspirators, who were standing together in a close semicircle +facing the King and himself. The instant he ceased speaking +there rose from their ranks an outburst of consternation, of +anger, and of indignant denial. The King's spirits rose +within him at the sound, although he frowned and made a +gesture as though to command silence. + +"Mr. Gordon, this is a serious charge you make," he said, +smiling grimly. "One that may cost you a great deal--it might +cost you your life perhaps." He paused significantly, and +there was a second outburst, this time from the younger men, +which came so suddenly that it was as though Louis had played +upon certain chords on a keyboard, and the sounds he wanted +had answered to his touch. + +"Pardon me, that is not the question," said Gordon. "That I +make charges or run risks in making charges is not important. +That your expedition has failed before it has even started is, +however, of great importance, at least so it sees to me." + +There was a movement in the circle, and Father Paul pushed his +way forward from his place beside Miss Carson's chair. He was +so greatly moved that when he spoke his voice was harsh and +broken. "What is your authority for saying we have failed?" +he demanded. + +Gordon bowed gravely and turned and pointed to the Frenchman. +"This gentleman," he said, "is General Renauld, +Commander-in-Chief of the army of Messina. He is my +authority. He knows all that you mean to do. If he knows it, +it is likely, is it not, that his army and the President of +the Republic know it also, and that when we attempt to land +they will be waiting for us." + +The King silenced the second outburst that followed this by +rising and holding up his hand. + +"Silence! I believe I can explain," he said. He was smiling, +and his bearing was easy and so full of assurance that the +exclamations and whispers died away on the instant. "I am +afraid I see what has happened," the King said. "But there +need be no cause for alarm. This gentleman is, as Mr. Gordon +says, the Commander-in-Chief of the Messinian army, and it is +true he suspected that an armed force would invade the island. +It is not strange that he should have suspected it, and it +needed no traitor to enlighten him. The visit of Father Paul +and the Prince Kalonay in the yacht, and their speeches +inciting the people to rebellion, would have warned the +government that an expedition might soon follow. The return +of our yacht to this place has no doubt been made known in +Messina through the public press, and General Renauld followed +the yacht here to learn what he could of our plans--of our +intended movements. He came here to spy on us, and as a spy I +ordered Mr. Gordon to arrest him this morning on any charge he +pleased, and to place him out of our way until after to-night, +when we should have sailed. I chose Mr. Gordon to undertake +this service because he happened to speak the language of the +country, and it was necessary to deal directly with the local +authorities without the intervention of an outsider. What has +happened is only too evident. The spy, who when he came here +only suspected, now, as Mr. Gordon says, knows the truth, and +he could have learned it only from one person, to whom he has +no doubt paid a pretty price for the information." The King +took a step forward and pointed with his hand at the American. +"I gave that man into your keeping, sir," he cried, "but I had +you watched. Instead of placing him in jail you took him to a +cafe and remained there with him for three hours, and from +that cafe you came directly here to this room. If he knows +the truth, he learned it in that cafe, and he learned it from +you!" There was a ring of such earnestness and sincerity in +the King's speech, and he delivered it with such indignation +and bitter contempt that a shout of relief, of approbation and +conviction, went up from his hearers, and fell as quickly on +the words as the applause of an audience drowns out the last +note of a great burst of song. Barrat, in the excess of his +relief, turned his back sharply on the King, glancing sideways +at Erhaupt and shaking his head in speechless admiration. + +"He is wonderful, simply wonderful," Erhaupt muttered; "he +would have made a great actor or a great diplomat." + +"He is wasted as a King," whispered Barrat. + +There was a menacing movement on the part of the younger men +toward Gordon and General Renauld, which the King noted, but +which he made no effort to check. Neither Gordon nor General +Renauld gave any sign that they observed it. The American was +busily engaged in searching his pockets, and from one of these +he produced two pieces of paper, which he held up above his +head, so that those in the room might see them. + +"One moment, please," he began, and then waited until the +tumult in the room had ceased. "Again, I must point out to +you," he said, in brisk, business-like tones, "that we are +digressing. The important thing is not who did, or did not, +sell out the expedition, but that it is in danger of failing +altogether. What his Majesty says is in part correct. I did +not take this gentleman to jail; I did take him to a cafe, and +there he told me much more concerning the expedition than I +had learned from those directly interested. His information, +he told me, had been sold to the Republic by one who visited +the island and who claimed to act for one other. I +appreciated the importance of what he said, and I also guessed +that my word and his unsupported might be doubted, as you have +just doubted it. So I took the liberty of verifying what +General Renauld told me by cabling to the President of +Messina." + +There was a shout of consternation at these words, but +Gordon's manner was so confident and the audacity of his +admission so surprised his hearers that they were silent again +immediately, and waited, with breathless interest, while +Gordon unfolded one of the pieces of paper. + +"This is a copy of the cablegram I sent the President," he +said, "and to which, with his permission, I signed General +Renauld's name. It is as follows:-- + + +The President. The Palace, Messina.--They will not believe +you are fully informed. Cable at once the exact hour when +they will leave Tangier, at what hour they expect to land, at +what place they expect to land, what sum you have promised to +pay for this information, and the names of those to whom it is +to be paid. + +RENAULD. + + +Gordon lowered the paper. "Is that quite clear?" he asked. +"Do you follow me? I have invited the enemy himself to inform +you of your plans, and to tell you who has betrayed them. His +answer, which was received a half hour ago, removes all +suspicion from any save those he names. General Renauld and +myself cease to be of the least consequence in the matter; we +are only messengers. It is the President of Messina who will +speak to you now. If you still doubt that the secret of your +expedition is known to the President you will have to doubt +him." + +The King sprang quickly to his feet and struck the arm of his +chair sharply with his open hand. + +"I shall not permit that message to be read," he said. "If we +have a traitor here, he is a traitor against me. And I shall +deal with him as I see fit, in private." + +There was a murmur of disappointment and of disapproval even, +and the King again struck the arm of his chair for silence. +Kalonay advanced toward him, shaking his head and holding out +his hands in protest. + +"Your Majesty, I beseech you," he began. "This concerns us +all," he cried. "It is too evident that we have been +betrayed; but it is not fair to any of us that we should all +lie under suspicion, as we must unless it is told who has been +guilty of this infamy. I beg your Majesty to reconsider. +There is no one in this room who is not in our secret, and +whoever has betrayed us must be with us here and now. I, who +have an interest second only to your own, ask that that +cablegram be read." + +There was a murmur of approbation from the conspirators, and +exclamations of approval and entreaty. Miss Carson, in her +excitement, had risen to her feet and was standing holding her +mother's hand. The King glanced uncertainly at Kalonay, and +then turned to Barrat and Erhaupt as if in doubt. + +Gordon's eyes were fixed for a moment on Kalonay with a +strange and puzzled expression. Then he gave a short sigh of +relief, and turning quickly searched the faces of those around +him. What he saw seemed to confirm him in his purpose, for he +folded the paper and placed it in his pocket. "His Majesty is +right," he said. "I shall not read this." + +Kalonay and Father Paul turned upon him angrily. "You have no +choice in the matter, sir," Kalonay cried. "It has passed +entirely out of your hands." + +"I beg your Majesty that the cablegram be read," the priest +demanded, in a voice that held less the tone of a request than +of a command. + +"I shall not read it," persisted Gordon, "because the person +chiefly concerned is not present." + + +"That is all the more reason for reading it," said Kalonay. +"Your Majesty must reconsider." + +The King whispered to Barrat, and the others waited in silence +that expressed their interest more clearly than a chorus of +questions would have done. + +"It shall be as you ask," the King said, at last. "You may +read the message, Mr. Gordon." + +Gordon opened the paper and looked at it for some seconds of +time with a grave and perplexed expression, and then, with a +short breath, as one who takes a plunge, read it aloud. "This +is it," he said. + + +To General Renauld. Cable Office, Tangier.--They leave +Tangier Tuesday at midnight, they land at daybreak Thursday +morning on the south beach below the old breakwater. The +secret of the expedition was sold us for three hundred +thousand francs by the Countess Zara and the Prince Kalonay. + + +Gordon stuck the paper in his pocket, and, crossing to +Kalonay, held out his hand, with a smile. "I don't believe +it, of course," he said; "but you would have it." + +Kalonay neither saw the gesture nor heard the words. He was +turning in bewilderment from the King to Father Paul, and he +laughed uncertainly. + +"What nonsense is this?" he demanded. "Whose sorry trick is +this? The lie is not even ingenious." + +General Renauld had not spoken since he had entered the room, +but now he advanced in front of Kalonay and faced him with a +threatening gesture. + +"The President of Messina does not lie, sir," he said, +sternly. "I myself saw the Countess Zara write out that +paper, which I and others signed, and in which we agreed to +pay to her and to you the money you asked for betraying your +King." + +Father Paul pressed his hand heavily on Kalonay's shoulder. +"Do not answer him," he commanded. Gordon had moved to +Kalonay's other side, and the three men had unconsciously +assumed an attitude of defence, and stood back to back in a +little group facing the angry circle that encompassed them. +The priest raised his arm to command a hearing. + +"Where is Madame Zara?" he cried. + +"Ah, where indeed?" echoed the King, sinking back into his +chair. "She has fled. It is all too evident now; she has +betrayed us and she has fled." + +But on his words, as if in answer to the priest's summons, the +curtains that hid the door into the King's private room were +pulled to one side, and Madame Zara appeared between them, +glancing fearfully at the excited crowd before her. As she +stood hesitating on the threshold, she swayed slightly and +clutched the curtains for a moment as though for support. The +priest advanced, and led her to the centre of the room. She +held a folded paper in her hand, which she gave to him in +silence. + +"You have heard what has passed?" he asked, with a toss of his +head toward the heavy curtains. The woman raised her head and +bowed. The priest unfolded the paper. + +"Am I to read this?" he asked. The woman bowed again. + +There was silence in the room while the priest's eyes ran +quickly over the paper. He crushed it in his hand. + +"It is as General Renauld says," he exclaimed. "In this the +Republic of Messina agrees to pay the Countess Zara and the +Prince Kalonay three hundred thousand francs, if the +expedition is withdrawn after it has made a pretence of +landing on the shores of Messina." + +He took a step forward. "Madame Zara," he cried, in a tone of +warning, "do you pretend that the Prince Kalonay was your +accomplice in this; that he knew what you meant to do?" + +Madame Zara once more bowed her head. + +"No! You must speak," commanded the priest. "Answer me!" + +Zara hesitated, in evident distress, and glanced appealingly +at the King; but the expression on his face was one of grief +and of unrelenting virtue. "I do," she said, at last, in a +low voice. "Kalonay did know. He thought the revolution +would not succeed; he thought it would fail, and so--and +so--and we needed money. They made me--I, O my God, I +cannot--I cannot!" she cried, suddenly, sinking on her knees +and hiding her face with her hands. + +Kalonay stepped toward her and lifted her gently to her feet; +but when she looked and saw who it was that held her, she gave +a cry and pulled herself free. She staggered and would have +fallen, had not Gordon caught and held her by the arm. The +King rose from his chair and pointed at the shrinking figure +of the woman. + +"Stand aside from her," he said, sternly. "Why should we pity +her, what pity has she shown for us--for me? She has robbed +me of my inheritance. But let her go, she is a woman; we +cannot punish her. Her sins rest on her own head. But +you--you," he cried, turning fiercely on Kalonay, his voice +rising to a high and melancholy key, "you whom I have heaped +with honors, whom I have leaned upon as on the arm of a +brother, that you should have sold me for silver, that you +should have turned Judas!" + +The crowd of volunteers, bewildered by the rapid succession of +events, and confused and rendered desperate by the failure of +their expedition, caught up the word, and pressing forward +with a rush, surrounded Kalonay in an angry circle, crying +"Judas!" "Traitor!" and "Coward!" + +Kalonay turned from side to side. On some he smiled bitterly +in silence, and at others he broke out into swift and fierce +denunciations; but the men around him crowded closer and would +not permit him to be heard. He had turned upon them, again +challenging them to listen, when there was an opening in the +circle and the men stepped back, and Miss Carson pushed her +way among them and halted at Kalonay's side. She did not look +at him, but at the men about him. She was the only calm +figure in the group, and her calmness at such a crisis, and +her youth, and the fineness and fearlessness of her beauty, +surprised them into a sudden quiet. There was instantly a cry +for order, and the men stood curious and puzzled, watching to +see what she would do. + +"Gentlemen," she said, in a clear, grave voice. "Gentlemen," +she repeated, sharply, as a few murmurs still greeted her, "if +you are gentlemen, let this lady speak. She has not +finished." She crossed quickly and took the Countess Zara by +the hand. "Go on, madame, she urged, gently. "Do not be +afraid. You say they made you do it. Who made you do it? +You have told us a part of the truth. Now tell us the whole +truth." For a moment the girl seemed much the older of the +two, and as Zara glanced up at her fearfully, she smiled to +reassure her, and stroked the woman's hand with her own. "Who +made you do it?" she repeated. "Not the Prince Kalonay, +surely. You cannot hope to make us believe that. We trust +him absolutely. Who was it, then?" + +The King sprang forward with an oath; his apathy and mock +dignity had fallen from him like a mask. His face was +mottled, and his vicious little eyes flashed with fear and +anger. Erhaupt crowded close behind him, crouching like a dog +at his heels. + +"She has lied enough already," the King cried. "We will not +listen to her. Take her away." + +"Yes, let her go," shouted Erhaupt, with a laugh. "If she had +been a decent woman----" + +There was a quick parting in the group and the sound of a +heavy blow as Kalonay flung himself upon Erhaupt and struck +him in the face, so that he staggered and fell at length upon +the floor. Gordon stood over him, his fingers twitching at +his side. + +"Stand up, you bully," he said, "and get out of this, before +we throw you out." + +Zara's face had turned a pitiful crimson, but her eyes flashed +and burned with resolve and indignation. She stood erect and +menacing, like an angry goddess, and more beautiful in her +indignation than they had ever seen her. + +"Now, I shall tell them the truth," she said, sternly. "That +man," she cried, pointing her finger at the King, "that man +whom they call a King--that man who would have sacrificed the +only friend who serves him unselfishly--is the man who sold +your secret to the enemy. It was he who made me do it. He +sent me to Messina, and while the priest and the Prince +Kalonay were working in the south, I sold them to the +government at the capital. Barrat knew it, Erhaupt knew it, +the King himself planned it--to get money. He has robbed all +of his own people; he had meant to rob this young girl; and he +is so mean and pitiful a creature that to save himself he now +tries to hide behind the skirts of a woman, and to sacrifice +her,--the woman who has given her soul to him. And for +this--my God!" she cried, her voice rising in an accent of +agony and bitter contempt--"for this!" + +There was a grim and momentous silence in the room while Zara +turned, and without waiting to learn what effect her words +might have, made her way swiftly through the crowd and passed +on out of the room and on to the terrace beyond. + +The King crouched back in his chair like a common criminal in +the dock, glancing fearfully from under his lowered eyebrows +at the faces about him, and on none did he see the least +question of doubt but that Zara had at last spoken the truth. + +"She lies," the King muttered, as though answering their +unspoken thoughts, "the woman lies." + +There was no movement from the men about him. Shame for him, +and grief and bitter disappointment for themselves, showed on +the face of each. From outside a sea-breeze caught up the +sand of the beach and drove it whispering against the high +windows, and the beat of the waves upon the shores filled out +and marked the silence of the room. + +The Prince Kalonay stepped from the circle and stood for a +moment before the King, regarding him with an expression of +grief and bitter irony. The King's eyes rose insolently, and +faltered, and sank. + +"For many years, your Majesty," the Prince said, but so +solemnly that it was as though he were a judge upon the bench, +or a priest speaking across an open grave, "the Princes of my +house have served the Kings of yours. In times of war they +fought for the King in battle, they beggared themselves for +him in times of peace; our women sold their jewels for the +King, our men gave him their lives, and in all of these +centuries the story of their loyalty, of their devotion, has +had but one sequel, and has met with but one +reward,--ingratitude and selfishness and treachery. You know +how I have served you, Louis. You know that I gave up my +fortune and my home to go into exile with you, and I did that +gladly. But I did more than that. I did more than any king +or any man has the right to expect of any other man. I served +your idle purposes so well that you, yourself, called me your +jackal, the only title your Majesty has ever bestowed that was +deserved. There is no low thing nor no base thing that I have +not done for you. To serve your pleasures, to gain you money, +I have sunken so low that all the royal blood in Europe could +not make me clean. But there is a limit to what a man may do +for his King, and to the loyalty a King may have the right to +demand. And to-day and here, with me, the story of our +devotion to your House ends, and you go your way and I go +mine, and the last of my race breaks his sword and throws it +at your feet, and is done with you and yours forever." + +Even those in the room who held no sympathy in their hearts +for the sentiment that had inspired the young man, felt that +at that moment and in their hearing he had renounced what was +to him his religion and his faith, and on the faces of all was +the expression of a deep pity and concern. Their own +adventure, in the light of his grief and bitterness of spirit, +seemed selfish and little, and they stood motionless, in an +awed and sorrowful silence. + +The tense strain of the moment was broken suddenly by the +advent on the scene of an actor who had, in the rush of +events, been neglected and forgotten. The little Crown Prince +had stood clinging to his nurse's skirts, an uncomprehending +spectator of what was going forward. But he now advanced +slowly, feeling that the silence invited him to claim his +father's notice. He halted beside the chair in which Louis +sat, his head bent on his hands, and made an effort to draw +himself up to his father's knee. + +But the King pushed him down, and hid his face from him. The +child turned irresolutely, with a troubled countenance, and, +looking up, saw that the attention of all was fixed upon him. +At this discovery a sudden flood of shyness overtook him, and +he retreated hastily until his eyes fell on the Prince +Kalonay, standing alone, with his own eyes turned resolutely +away. There was a breathless hush in the room as the child, +with a happy sigh, ran to his former friend and comrade, and +reached up both his arms. The tableau was a familiar one to +those who knew them, and meant only that the child asked to be +lifted up and swung to the man's shoulder; but following as it +did on what had just passed, the gesture and the attitude +carried with them the significance of an appeal. Kalonay, as +though with a great effort, lowered his eyes to the upturned +face of the child below him, but held himself back and stood +stiffly erect. A sharp shake of the head, as though he argued +with himself, was the only sign he gave of the struggle that +was going on within him. + +At this second repulse, the child's arms dropped to his side, +his lips quivered, and he stood, a lonely little figure, +glancing up at the circle of men about him, and struggling to +press back the tears that came creeping to his eyes. + +Kalonay regarded him steadfastly for a brief moment, as though +he saw him as a stranger, searching his face with eyes as +pitiful as the child's own; and then, with a sudden, sharp +cry, the Prince dropped on his knee and caught the child +toward him, crushing him against his heart, and burying his +face on his shoulder. There was a shout of exultation from +the nobles, and an uttered prayer from the priest, and in a +moment the young men had crowded in around them, struggling to +be the first to kiss the child's hands, and to ask pardon of +the man who held him in his arms. + +"Gentlemen," Kalonay cried, his voice laughing through his +tears, "we shall still sail for the island of Messina. They +shall not say of us that we visited the sins of the father on +a child. I was weak, my friends, and I was credulous. I +thought I could break the tradition of centuries. But our +instincts are stronger than our pride, and the House I have +always served I shall serve to the last." He swung the Crown +Prince high upon his shoulder, and held his other arm above +his head. "You will help me place this child upon his +throne," he commanded, and the room rang with cheers. "You +will appeal to his people," he cried. "Do you not think they +will rise to this standard-bearer, will they not rally to his +call? For he is a true Prince, my comrades, who comes to them +with no stain of wrong or treachery, without a taint, as +untarnished as the white snow that lies summer and winter in +the hollow of our hills, `and a child shall lead us, and a +child shall set them free.' To the yacht!" he shouted. "We +will sail at once, and while they wait for us to be betrayed +into their hands at the north, we shall be landing in the +south, and thousands will be hurrying to our standard." + +His last words were lost in a tumult of cheers and cries, and +the young men poured out upon the terrace, running toward the +shore, and filling the soft night-air with shouts of "Long +live the Prince Regent!" "Long live our King!" + +As the room grew empty Kalonay crossed it swiftly and +advancing to Miss Carson took her hand. His face was radiant +with triumph and content. He regarded her steadily for a +moment, as though he could not find words to tell his +feelings. + +"You had faith in me," he said, at last. "Can I ever make you +understand how much that means to me? When all had turned +against me you trusted me, you had faith in me, in the King's +jackal." + +"Silence; you must never say that again," the girl commanded, +gently. "You have shown it to be the lie it always was. We +shall call you the Defender of the Faith now; you are the +guardian of a King." She smiled at the little boy in his +arms, and made a slight courtesy to them both. "You have +outgrown your old title," she said; "you have a proud one now, +you will be the Prince Regent." + +Kalonay, with the child in his arms, and Miss Carson were +standing quite alone. General Renauld had been led away, +guarded by a merry band of youngsters; the King still crouched +in his chair, with Barrat bowed behind him, but pulling, with +philosophic calm, on a cigarette, and Father Paul and Gordon +were in close conversation with Mrs. Carson at the farther end +of the room. The sun had set, and the apartment was in +semi-darkness. Kalonay moved closer to Miss Carson and looked +boldly into her eyes, "There is a prouder title than that of +the Regent," he whispered; "will you ever give it me?" + +The girl started, breathing quickly, and turned her head +aside, making an effort to free her hand, but Kalonay held it +closer in his own. "Will you give it me?" he begged. + +Then the girl looked up at him smiling, but with such +confidence and love in her eyes that he read his answer, +though she shook her head, as though to belie the truth her +eyes had told him. + +"When you have done your work," she said, "come to me or send +for me, and I shall come and give you my answer; and whether +you fail or succeed the answer will be the same." + +Kalonay stooped quickly and kissed her hand, and when he +raised his face his eyes were smiling with such happiness that +the little child in his arms read it there, and smiled too in +sympathy, and pressed his face closer against his comrade's +shoulder. + +Gordon at this moment moved across the room and bowed, making +a deep obeisance to the child. + +"Might I be permitted," he asked, "to kiss his Royal Highness? +I should like to boast of the fact, later," he explained. + +The Crown Prince turned his sad, wise eyes on him in silence, +and gravely extended a little hand. + +"You may kiss his Highness's hand," said Kalonay, smiling. + +Gordon laughed and pressed the fingers in his own. + +"When you talk like that, Kalonay," he said, "you make me feel +like Alice in the court-room with the Kings and Queens around +her. A dozen times this afternoon I've felt like saying, +`After all, they are only a pack of cards.'" + +Kalonay shook his head and glanced toward Miss Carson for +enlightenment. + +"I don't understand," he said. + +"No, you couldn't be expected to," said Gordon; "You have not +been educated up to that. It is the point of view." + +He stuck out the middle finger of his hand, and drove it three +times deliberately into the side of the Crown Prince. The +child gasped and stared open-mouthed at the friendly stranger, +and then catching the laugh in Gordon's eyes, laughed with +him. + +"Now," said Gordon, "I shall say that I have dug the King of +Messina in the ribs--that is even better than having kissed +him. God bless your Royal Highness," he said, bowing gravely. +"You may find me disrespectful at times," he added; "but then, +you must remember, I am going to risk a valuable life for you. +At least it's an extremely valuable one to me." + +Kalonay looked at Gordon for a moment with serious +consideration, and then held out his hand. "You also had +faith in me," he said. "I thank you. Are you in earnest; do +you really wish to serve us?" + +"I mean to stay by you until the boy is crowned," said the +American, "unless we separate on our several paths of +glory--where they will lead depends, I imagine, on how we have +lived." + +"Or on how we die," Kalonay added. "I am glad to hear you +speak so. If you wish, I shall attach you to the person of +the Crown Prince. You shall be on the staff with the rank of +Colonel." + +Gordon made a low and sweeping bow. + +"Rise, Sir Archibald Gordon," he said. "I thank you," he +added. "We shall strive to please." + +Miss Carson shook her head at him, and sighed in protest. + +"Will you always take everything as a joke, Archie?" she said. + +"My dear Patty," he answered, "the situation is much too +serious to take in any other way." + +They moved to the door, and there the priest and Mrs. Carson +joined them; but on the threshold Kalonay stopped and looked +for the first time since he had addressed him at the King. + +He regarded him for some seconds sternly in silence, and then +pointed, with his free hand, at the crown of Messina, which +still rested on the table at the King's elbow. "Colonel +Gordon," he said, in a tone of assured authority, "I give the +crown of Messina into your keeping. You will convey it, with +all proper regard for its dignity, safely on board the yacht, +and then bring it at once to me." + +When he had finished speaking the Prince turned and, without +looking at the King, passed on with the others across the +terrace and disappeared in the direction of the shore, where +the launch lay waiting. + +Gordon crossed the room and picked up the crown from the +table, lifting it with both hands, the King and Barrat +watching him in silence as he did so. He hesitated, and held +it for a moment, regarding it with much the same expression of +awe and amusement that a man shows when he is permitted to +hold a strange baby in his arms. Turning, he saw the sinister +eyes of the King and of Barrat fastened upon him, and he +smiled awkwardly, and in some embarrassment turned the crown +about in his hands, so that the jewels in its circle gleamed +dully in the dim light of the room. Gordon raised the crown +and balanced it on his finger-tips, regarding it severely and +shaking his head. + +"There are very few of these left in the world now, your +Majesty," he said, cheerfully, "and the number is getting +smaller every year. We have none at all in my country, and I +should think--seeing they are so few--that those who have them +would take better care of them, and try to keep them +untarnished, and brushed up, and clean." He turned his head +and looked inquiringly at the King, but Louis made no sign +that he heard him. + +"I have no desire, you understand me," continued Gordon, +unabashed, "to take advantage of a man when he is down, but +the temptation to say `I told you so' seems almost impossible +to resist. What?" he asked--"I beg your pardon, I thought you +spoke." But the King continued scornfully silent, and only a +contemptuous snort from Barrat expressed his feelings. + +Gordon placed the crown carefully under his arm, and then +removed it quickly, with a guilty look of dismay at its former +owner, and let it swing from his hand; but this fashion of +carrying it seemed also lacking in respect, so he held it up +again with both hands and glanced at the King in some +perplexity. + +"There ought to be a sofa-cushion to go with this, or +something to carry it on," he said, in a grieved tone. "You +see, I am new at this sort of thing. Perhaps your Majesty +would kindly give me some expert information. How do you +generally carry it?" + +The King's eyes snapped open and shut again. + +"On my head," he said, grimly. + +Gordon laughed in great relief. + +"Now, do you know, I like that," he cried. "That shows +spirit. I am glad to see you take it so cheerfully. Well, I +must be going, sir," he added, nodding, and moving toward the +door. "Don't be discouraged. As someone says, `It's always +morning somewhere,' and in my country there's just as good men +out of office as there are in it. Good-night." + +While the sound of Gordon's footsteps died away across the +marble terrace, the King and Barrat remained motionless and +silent. The darkness in the room deepened and the silence +seemed to deepen with it; and still they remained immovable, +two shadowy figures in the deserted apartment where the +denunciations of those who had abandoned them still seemed to +hang and echo in the darkness. What thoughts passed through +their minds or for how long a time they might still have sat +in bitter contemplation can only be guessed, for they were +surprised by the sharp rattle of a lock, the two great doors +of the adjoining room were thrown wide open, and a broad and +brilliant light flooded the apartment. Niccolas, the King's +majordomo, stood between the doors, a black silhouette +against the glare of many candles. + +"His Majesty is served!" he said. + +The King lifted his head sharply, as though he found some +lurking mockery in the words, or some fresh affront; but in +the obsequious bow of his majordomo there was no mockery, and +the table beyond glistened with silver, while a pungent and +convincing odor of rich food was wafted insidiously through +the open doors. + +The King rose with a gentle sigh, and nodded to his companion. + +"Come, Barrat," he said, taking the baron's arm in his. "The +rascals have robbed us of our throne, but, thank God, they +have had the grace to leave me my appetite." + + + + + +The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "The King's Jackel" + diff --git a/old/kjack10.zip b/old/kjack10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaa627e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/kjack10.zip |